


In a Faraway Land You'll Find Yourself

by dugindeep (hotsauce)



Category: CW Network RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/M, Hurt Jared, M/M, Romance, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-14
Updated: 2014-11-14
Packaged: 2018-02-25 09:15:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 34,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2616416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hotsauce/pseuds/dugindeep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In his day-to-day life, Jensen is never put first or regarded as anyone with purpose. He works for his dad, lives in his brother’s shadow, can’t keep his boyfriend a priority, and has mostly given up on himself. One magical cup of coffee transports him to the land of Cassidonia, a fantasy land that he can’t traverse on his own. The tale says the Fair Child will slay the monster keeping watch at the unruly queen’s castle, and all of Cassidonia says Jensen’s the one to do it. In this world, he has to decide if he’ll move on without much effort to change his life, or live up to his destiny and save Cassidonia and return it to the rightful rule of the princess-in-waiting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The full, original story is posted here as 'Chapter One'. All remaining chapters are timestamps.
> 
> There is also an amazing [art post](http://users.livejournal.com/_afterism/215125.html).

  
**ONE**

When Jensen turned seven, his parents threw him a birthday party. It had all the fixings for a good afternoon – beautiful weather, a wide lawn to run, a dozen or so children, balloons, and games. But what he didn’t plan on was the overabundance of people his father and grandfather had invited to celebrate The Ackles Corporation being handed down a generation.

As his father celebrated his new position as President and Josh took charge of gametime with the kids, Jensen hid away in the back yard, winding through the luscious rose garden and plopping down on a patch of grass. He pouted for most of the afternoon, imagining himself as someone that people looked for and were excited about. That people found him important and needed and liked. Through it all he waited for someone to notice his absence or even stumble upon him; no one did. 

It was just the first in a long series of incidents.

\- - -

Even with the passing of a long twenty-five years, Jensen found himself in quite the same predicament. The evening reception was announced as the celebration for his thirty-second birthday but quickly proved to once again serve as a business function for Alan to schmooze his associates.

“Have you met my boy?” Alan asked with a rough tug of Jensen’s shoulders. “Regional Manager of Sales. Big time brain on this one. It’s his birthday!” Seconds later, the hand dropped and Alan spun to Josh, who was all smooth smiles and firm handshakes. “Josh, the oldest. Senior Manager of Operations. He’s your man.”

And then Jensen was long forgotten. It happened every ten to twenty minutes, depending on Alan’s attention span and how often he wanted to hear his own booming voice announce how terrific his two boys were.

To pass the time, Jensen habitually checked his phone. His thumb rode the edges of the buttons, daring himself to make the call. He should let Alex know that he might be late for their already delayed dinner, the only time anyone had put aside for his birthday. But he couldn’t, because Josh constantly stepped up to introduce him to another stockholder or lawyer or potential client, and Jensen had to once again do as he’d unfortunately done quite often lately: put his boyfriend on hold.

Come toasting time, Alan drew them in: Josh on his left, Jensen on the right, a strong arm over them both. He yanked them in tight as he spoke reverently about the success of the Ackles Corporation. How it would have never happened without the pride of the Ackles name, without the support of his dear Donna, and without the fierce work ethic of everyone at the party.

Then Alan raised his glass, asked everyone to join him, and announced, “This one’s for the Ackles Corporation. Fifty years of determination and twenty-five under my coat.”

Jensen looked on intently, ears at attention, heart beating. He waited for his father to continue on and finally acknowledge what the day really was. 

Alan tipped the glass forward with a nod and sipped as the crowd did the same before applauding him and the company.

Jensen swallowed hard as Josh and Alan stepped aside, glad-handing each other, rejoining the celebration, and abandoning Jensen on the makeshift stage. With a tiny sigh, he downed the rest of his champagne, which was likely his fourth or fifth glass blurring the edges of his mind, then placed the flute to the ground, hopped off the stage, and left without another glance at the party.

Come morning, he woke with a surging headache and little memory of the last few hours of the evening. He couldn’t blame his body for inflicting the pain, because when he’d gotten home, he only paused for a moment before opening a bottle of whiskey and sipping through it while slouching into the couch for an evening of dull television. 

Despite the persistent pounding, Jensen went on with his morning routine of showering, shaving, dressing, and taking the moderate walk into work. 

Just minutes after leaving his apartment building, Josh called to rattle off the day’s first order. “You need to call Kripke and get him settled. They’re convinced that we can’t provide them adequate support for the contract you drew up.”

He huffed in return while slipping between the daily commuters. “Josh, I didn’t draw _anything_ up. I’m not even allowed in the room when Dad talks to him. I think he had Tom prepare the documents.”

“Whichever, it needs fixing. They’re asking for another hundred hours of support per month and the way they’re looking – ”

“We can’t do that.”

Josh paused long enough to make Jensen wonder if the call had dropped, which forced him to pull it from his face and inspect it. No, his irritating brother was still there. “Since when?” Josh asked.

“Since there are only eighty hours in a work month. We’d have to dedicate one and a half trainers to cover just _that time_. Not to mention the sixty hours they’ve already been promised.”

There was another lengthy pause that tempted Jensen to disconnect just to have the conversation in person. But then he imagined his brother’s slim, three-piece suit mocking his own simple shirt and tie, not to mention the sharp glare Josh fed him whenever talking business. 

“Josh, I don’t see how there could be enough staff to provide any additional hours. Let alone a hundred. If we don’t hire new trainers then it calls for overtime and extra shifts. The labor costs alone are frightening.”

Josh hummed lightly, flipping back into his business charm. “You’ll figure it out, Jennybean.”

Jensen paced quickly through an intersection and rolled his eyes at the name, neglecting to respond.

“If anyone can get this to work, it’s you. Kripke loves you.” Then Josh’s voice dropped with a muttered, “Lord only knows why.”

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Seriously, it can’t be done.”

“Make it work.”

“Josh, no – ”

“Make it work or someone else will.” 

The familiarity of Josh’s tone stung deep within; threats of that nature weren’t handed out lightly, and he’d seen the effects when Josh or his father – and sometimes both – laid down excessive demands on their employees. Jensen felt the twist in his belly and the sharp headache return as he stalled at the curb and waited for the _Walk_ sign to command him through the intersection.

“Great!” Josh said with excitement. “You’ll get the staffing upped and provide Kripke with a new contract by the end of the day. You’re the best, Jennybean.”

Jensen dropped his hand, clutching the phone tight against his leg as he closed his eyes. He warred with himself and, internally, his brother. Then the dire need to remain patient was quickly replaced by disbelief of his luck; a cab rolled by and kicked up enough of last night’s rain to douse Jensen head to toe in musty street water. He stood still, blinking repeatedly. Deep, rough breathing couldn’t settle him, and the tiny chuckles slipping from passing pedestrians didn’t help either.

Changing directions, Jensen entered the nearest coffee shop. He ignored the smooth browns painting the walls, the mellow muzak intending to calm customers, and he absolutely denied the cheery barista any attention while he grabbed handfuls of napkins and wiped himself down. 

“Hi! Would you like to try a venti peppermint mocha cocoa frappachino?”

He turned until he was face to face with the woman. Her head bopped with a fresh smile and her long brown ponytail flipped with the movement. “A what?”

Her pep rose even higher as she rattled off, “Aventipeppermintmochacocoafrappachino.”

Jensen stared at her mouth, wondering how in the world it could curl around so many syllables in such a short time. His phone rang again and he answered with a huffy, “Yeah, this is Jensen.”

“You _hung up_ on me?” There was just one short, haughty breath before Josh continued. “We were finally coming to an agreement and you hung up on me!”

“Did you ever think maybe it was with due reason?” Jensen grit out.

“I don’t understand.”

Jensen rolled his eyes at Josh’s suddenly level tone. “Maybe something happened and I couldn’t speak for a moment.”

“I … Jensen, what happened?”

As Jensen considered the bit of care, maybe even worry, on the other line, he tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder, and hovered over the napkin dispenser to dry his face. He dropped the used napkins into the nearby garbage can before grabbing fresh ones and doing it all over again as he grumbled, “Nothing a little soap can’t clean up. A stupid cab hit me with wa–”

“A cab hit you? Jesus, okay, we’ll be there in a minute with the lawyers.”

Dramatic as ever, Josh continued rattling off instructions that had little to do with Jensen’s well-being and more with protecting (and capitalizing on) the Ackles name. 

“It was _water_ ,” Jensen shouted, stopping Josh’s rambling and also a few nearby customers. “Sorry, okay?” he sighed at the few people glaring at him, considering the fact that he was well put out while they were all dry. A fresh, white towel appeared beside him and he nodded as he did a proper wipe of his neck, shirt, and pants. His gaze barely flickered to the barista with a soft, “Thank you.” Her smile was broad, nearly proud, and he eyed her.

“What the hell happened?”

“A cab drove by and splashed tons of water on me. It’s fine.”

“Jesus _Christ_ , Jensen,” he spat out. “You’re late for the Singers because of a little water?” 

A quick glance at the clock above his head confirmed it, and he cursed his soon o’clock meeting with Singer Supplies. He rattled off a goodbye and dropped everything to the counter before running out of the store.

As the door jangled, he realized he’d forgotten his phone, so he twisted back around, rushed to the counter, and lifted it with a curt nod. The barista grinned as she slid a covered coffee cup towards him. “On the house!”

“What? No. I have to –”

“It’s my insistence,” she announced, quite formally. “Please do.” Then she bowed, spreading her royal blue skirt and tipping her head down in the kind of salutation he hadn’t seen since … well, ever. 

Jensen licked his lips with the thought of warm, smooth coffee, and snatched the drink up, took a quick, appreciative sip then nodded back. He took another quick sip, feeling the liquid instantly warm his insides. 

The taste wasn’t like any of the flavors she’d declared, but instead broke out in vanilla and hazelnut, strawberries and cream, chocolate and coconut, so many of his favorite desserts bursting in his mouth.

With a furrowed brow, he regarded the barista and their equal gaze stretched on for far longer than Jensen had intended, and somehow, some way, he couldn’t turn way. As a soft twinkling sound filled his ears, he saw a soft line curling down the side of her face, carving out her jaw and chin before dabbing pinks and creams in accent of her porcelain skin before the lips split with a subtle red. He saw the swirl of a thin, sparkling chain circle her face and spin out above her head. 

His phone rang again and when he blinked it all vanished. 

“Yeah?” he spit out while looking back over the counter and finding her gone, as were the colors that had swung through the air.

“Jensen,” his father quietly seethed, “You’re _late_.”

Jensen found the clock reading quarter past. He had absolutely no explanation how picking up one cup could waste him twenty minutes. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jensen clutched his coffee and rushed through the doors. He could visualize his father standing in the sleek conference room, staring down to the sidewalk thirty-three floors below, and cursing him out for being late. “I’m coming right now. It’s been a bad morning … long story, but I’m on my way.”

“You don’t want the Singers, I will gladly give them to Cassidy. She’s bloodthirsty as hell, Jensen. I’m not afraid to turn her on you,” his father warned while he hustled through the crowds.

His stomach flipped and lungs burned with the threat. He chuckled uneasily and did his best to charm his father. “No, no, no. No need to do that. Call off the dogs. I’m there. I’m practically in the building.”

Hanging up, he turned on the jets and sprinted the rest of the way. 

It did little to ease him, even when he was exiting the elevator and marching on towards the conference room with a quick swipe across his forehead to clear away sweat. His phone rang again, and in an instant he had it open and quickly rattled off, “I’m here. I’m ten feet away. I’m walking in right now.”

“So you are alive?”

His reach for the doorknob stalled when a different voice filtered into his ears. 

“I was a little concerned after you didn’t call last night.”

Jensen cursed, pressed the phone into his head before knocking it against his temple a few times, and then steeled himself against the fighting emotions. He needed to get into his meeting, but he really had to fix this. “Alex, hey. Hi. How are you?” he asked as nicely as possible. Yet again, he’d stood Alex up, and it wasn’t the first time he’d done it for family or professional obligations. Nor was it the second, third, or fourth; Jensen was likely in the double digits. 

“Oh, I’m just fine. A little hungry, though. Sat at the restaurant for over an hour without food.” 

“Yeah, about that –” Jensen was interrupted by incessant knocking just above his head, clear through his ears, and pounding in his skull. When he turned, his father’s fist smacked the glass of the conference room once more and then his face said it all; Jensen was doomed. 

“I mean, you want to ignore your birthday, fine. But you could’ve let me know that before I made the reservations.”

He stalled while imagining the phone call lasting far longer than he had time for at that moment. A second later, his father’s face came closer to the frosted window. 

Jensen shut the phone and marched to his professional death.

He slunk into a chair in the otherwise empty room, feeling his stomach churn at the Singers’ absence, and then even more so with his father’s belittling tone. “Ten feet away? Walking in right now?”

“Yes, I know,” he began as he slowly shifted forward.

The quick turn and pointed glare cut Jensen off. “This may not be your life’s blood, but it is mine. My father, your grandfather, left this here for us. To ensure our future, to keep us healthy and in home. And you disrespect it time and time again.”

“I know, but –”

“You don’t want to work here, you say so. I don’t need to have my own son embarrass me on a daily basis.”

Jensen fought to tell his father what he really thought: his heart wasn’t in this job, he wanted to do his own thing. Never before did he want so badly to free himself from what was holding him down and keeping him from being who Jensen Ackles truly could be. But a matter of pride – and the vision of his six-digit paycheck – won out. “No, sir. I’m proud to work here. My gravest apologies.” 

There was a curt nod before his father turned foot and left the room. 

Nothing was made better when Jensen returned to his office and Katie Cassidy leaned in the doorway. “Why, Jensen. You have yourself a rough morning?”

He steeled himself against the patronizing tone and her smart smile and snatched up paperwork to flip through. “Morning, Katie.”

She sauntered inside, fingers trailing a path along the arm chairs that faced his desk. “It’s a real shame you couldn’t be there for the Singers. They were so looking forward to dealing with you. But you know what? They seem to be pretty happy now. A little change can do ya good, ya know?”

Jensen raised his chin. “What’re you talking about?”

Her fingers flicked over her shoulder then swept along her arm until she pulled at the delicate edge of her silk blouse. “Just my adding Singer Supplies to the Katie Cassidy arsenal of healthy, _happy_ clients.”

The papers slipped from his hands, fluttering to the desktop and further littering his already cluttered desk. “You didn’t.”

“No, I didn’t.” Katie paused just enough for his anxiety to settle, only to continue with: “But Josh did.” 

There was a rough swallow and a cold chill slinking down his back before he could manage to say, “Josh gave you the Singers?”

“That he did.” Her palms pressed into the desk as she slowly leaned across it and into his space. “There’s a new sheriff in town. Really ought to watch yourself.”

He waited for her to leave before he ran out of his office, through the hallway, and up two flights of stairs to his brother’s corner office. He shoved the door open and stalled at the sight of Josh working Robert Singer in a manner that Jensen had hoped to be doing himself in celebration of locking Singer Supplies into a multi-year contract. 

“Robert, Katie will take great care of you. She’s our top dog,” Josh said with a smile.

Jensen ran a hand through his hair, praying it was a dream, that his imagination had run off on him, and he wasn’t now facing the cold, bitter fact that his brother betrayed him with one handshake.

Robert Singer and his brother Richard slipped out of the office, sharing careful smiles with Jensen as they went. Then Jensen stared at his brother and harshly whispered, “Josh, Are you serious?”

With a quick nod, Josh flashed a glance Jensen’s way but continued to tidy his desk. “Jensen, how are you?”

“You gave the Singers to Katie?” Josh’s silence only boosted Jensen’s temper and he all-but shouted, “You gave the _Singers_ to _Katie_? I brought them in here. They were _my_ contact.”

“And it was _your_ meeting with them that you missed.” Tense breathing punctuated their silence. 

“Josh, how could you?”

“You weren’t here. I had to do something.”

“I’m your brother,” Jensen muttered, reliving every moment of the last thirty-two years where Josh did nothing but pester, punish, or ignore him. 

Josh threw a hand into the air and, to his credit, did his best to share a bit of concern. “You weren’t here. Dad was scared of them walking out. I had to do _something_.”

Jensen continued to stare, outrage replaced by pain and the fire within willowing away. 

With a shake of his head, Josh said, “You’re an Ackles, Jensen. You have to start acting like it.”

As if all his childish anguish from years spent answering to Josh suddenly crashed upon him, Jensen muttered, “Maybe I don’t want to,” as he turned away. 

In minutes, he was gone from the building, taking the rest of the day off. 

Adding insult to his morning, Alex called and gave a short, “I can’t do it anymore.”

Jensen pressed a fist into his eye and tried his best to salvage something of the day. “Alex, man, just. I’m having the worst day _ever_. And I just, can we not do this right now.”

A soft clearing of the throat made Jensen think of Alex in his office, ringing a finger inside his collar before doing his best to deliver bad news. “Well, I just did it. So you don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“Look, can we just talk this through? I’ll meet you wherever tonight. I promise I’ll be there, no ifs, ands, or buts.”

Another terse clearing of the throat and then a sigh. “Thursday.”

He huffed, disappointed in himself even further because Alex’s words only reminded him of yet another event he’d forgotten about. “Right, Mike’s birthday.”

“You going?” 

“Yes. I will be there. I promise.”

“Jensen,” Alex said quickly then paused for attention. “I’m not waiting but five minutes and then I’ll forget you were even supposed to be there.”

“Won’t have to,” he answered confidently. There was no way he would miss it, no way he’d let Alex down again. Because it’d been a good, long year of them being happy together followed by six months of Jensen failing to be there. He was ready to straighten it out if it was the only thing he’d do right that week. 

With the call settled and done, Jensen headed home, ignoring the fact that he hadn’t put in even an hour at work. He needed to be anywhere but the office and continued walking. He pushed the heel of his hand into his forehead, wondering if his growing headache was the cause of last night’s mess on the couch or the mess of the past few hours with his brother and dad. Maybe a combination of the two. 

When he came upon the little coffee shop, the one he’d cleaned up in that morning, he barely hesitated to slip right in, praying that coffee would be his salvation. Jensen immediately saw the woman from that morning, gliding along the back wall, setting things back into place. As he stepped up to the counter, she turned in surprise and held a curious smile. “Oh, you again.”

“You remember me?”

“Jensen,” she smiled. “Of course I do.”

He looked to her with confusion. “Yeah, that’s right. You are …”

“Danneel,” she nodded and slightly bowed. 

“Yeah, okay. Danneel,” he nodded back with an odd glance as her voice and movements were still incredibly proper. “That thing you made me?”

“Aventipeppermintmochacocoafrappachino.”

“You know, it tasted like none of those things. Nothing whatsoever.”

She didn’t waver or stop her smile; in fact, the grin grew wide and warm. “Did you like it?”

He stared for a while, suddenly mesmerized by her easy smile. Then he found himself nodding and smiling right back.

Her teeth shone so bright Jensen swore he heard them literally sparkle. “I am _so glad_. I had not planned for you so soon in the morning, so I had to speculate as what you would like. You were such a panicky mess that I just could _not_ figure you out.” She clutched her hands together and sighed happily. “But you like it. You really like it.”

“Yeah, yeah. It was good,” Jensen said, scratching the back of his head with an awkward chuckle.

Quickly and excitedly, she clapped. “Good, yes! Yes! I shall make you a second.”

“Wait, no, I –” Before he could protest, she nudged a cup into his hand and stepped back, hands tucked behind her back and a tentative smile replacing the confidence she’d shown just moments earlier. Jensen looked down into the mug and caught shades of brown and cream swirling together in the center of the cup. 

“You don’t drink it soon, it just might go bad.”

“Go bad?” he asked as he looked up. Her lips tucked tight into her mouth and she nodded. The colors continued to mix and his nose picked up gentle, sweet scents. He was all too fascinated to think further on it. “Alright,” he mumbled as he sipped, and again, flavors burst forth, ones he hadn’t anticipated. Not by a long shot; caramel and sweet cream followed by dark chocolate and raspberries. 

“What _is_ this?” he murmured, unable to stop himself from sipping again and again. “My word, it’s like,” and he paused, licking the inside of his mouth from all angles. “Is that blueberry?” Another lick brought him apple and yet another uncovered the decadent roll of espresso and more sweet cream. “Is this … this tiramisu?” Her eyes brightened as she drifted closer to the counter. “How in the world did you … How does it all come out like that?”

As she neared him, her hand rose in the air as she reached for his face then it swept down between them. She didn’t touch him, but he still felt a warm caress as the air brushed his face, softening his ever-persistent worry lines and tense frown. “You like it?” she whispered. 

Everything swam within and he couldn’t deny the purely euphoric feeling rushing through his brain. He drank again and tasted strawberry rhubarb pie, one his mother made for his eleventh birthday. Another sip brought him ice cream sundaes his grandma would spoil him on, twirling chocolate and caramel together, adding a dash of pecans to the top. “I do. This is amazing,” he murmured while staring into the cup.

“I am so, _so_ glad.”

He gulped down the rest of the drink, eyes rolling in ecstasy as more flavor danced on his tongue. He couldn’t even count them anymore, just knew that each taste was more delightful than the one before. In seconds, his memories rushed together and he saw hugs and kisses, laughter and smiles, all from sharing desserts and treats with his family and other joyful memories from the past. So many plucked from his childhood: he and Josh and Mackenzie playing across the enormous backyard, chasing each other and playing hide and seek through the rose garden. His mother joining them for a few rounds. His father bopping him on his knee as he read the Sunday comics. All moments that had been long forgotten through the pain of working so closely with his family and never living up to the standards they’d set for him.

As he softly smiled through the memories, he turned from the counter, and instantly dropped the mug, ceramic shattering on black tile and scattering everywhere as his eyes went wide. 

“How did that –” 

Jensen stared out the windows and into the abruptly dark night. Last he knew it was just past eleven in the morning. Instead of sunny outdoors, Jensen saw streetlamps flickering to life and passing cars flashing headlights. “But it’s not even lunch,” he mumbled as he turned to Danneel. 

She was gone. 

A quick glance across the shop and everything was tidy and put back into place. Not a single item was out and there was no sign of anyone when just moments ago there were other employees filling orders and customers scattered throughout the store. The clock confused him further, reading 8:46 while his watch and phone each read 10:58am. 

He walked out of the shop and onto the street. Crossing the avenue and moving further down the sidewalk found him alone when just minutes earlier, the area had been bustling with workers taking their lunch breaks. Now, it was deserted and downright unsettling.

“Hello?” he shouted, not comforted in the least by it echoing up and down the buildings. “Anyone there?”

Jensen heard rustling from the nearest cross street and rushed to find it. Instead, he stalled at the sight of a ten-foot-tall shadow creeping its way down the block and near the intersection. Rumblings and snorting and animalistic breathing startled him, and worse yet, the shadow became more distinct the closer it got. Horns flipped up from the creature’s nose and long fangs cut down around its mouth. 

He backpedaled, lost his footing, and fell. The panting grew louder and Jensen’s heart raced at the shadow of the creature’s long tongue lolling out of its mouth, sliding up the side of its face, and back in. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the beast’s shadow as it continued to growl then lick its chops. “Don’t be hungry,” he mumbled. “ _Please_ don’t.”

The shadow crept closer, stretching even further up the brick facade until it was just feet from exiting the alleyway and showing itself. It was then that Jensen spun up to his feet and took off. 

His dress shoes did little for traction, but he sped away as quickly as possible, sprinting across pavement, turning corners, skipping over cracks and potholes in the streets. Glances here and there showed him that the beast, all dark and slick with sweat, was galloping far enough behind that Jensen wasn’t in _immediate_ danger, but it was moving with such ease that he was sure he would tire before it would.

At the corner of the city park, he spun out on the grass. It was still chasing him, and he scrambled to his feet and ran and ran and ran. 

Suddenly, he slipped and fell into a deep hole, landing belly down on solid earth with his hands splayed out, knees knocked into stiff dirt, and head clunked equally hard. Jensen looked up to the sounds of the monster growing close, snuffling and lapping its tongue all around its massive mouth. Before he could truly handle the dilemma, his eyes rolled back and his head thumped back down to the ground as darkness engulfed him.

  
**TWO**

“Oh, my gosh.”

“That is … I can’t believe …”

“No, no, it can’t be. There’s no way she got him?”

“She got him? Oh! I knew she would!”

“Do you think he can do it?”

“If he ever wakes up.”

“He’s not what I thought … Are you sure that’s him? That she brought him?”

“They all say she did. She returned just this morning.”

“There’s no way – ”

“She wouldn’t have returned if she didn’t. She got him!”

“I can’t believe she did it!”

“You’re all forgetting that he’s no help to us dead.”

“He’s not dead! He’s … well, he’s sleeping. That’s all.”

The voices carried on overhead. Four, five, maybe six distinct ones, Jensen couldn’t be sure of it. But they hushed as his neck rolled and his head turned with his temple pushed into the earth. He shook his head for a moment and froze at the long line of pain from his head down his back into his knees and to his twisted ankle.

“He’s waking!”

“Shush!”

“If he’s waking we don’t need to stay quiet.”

A couple voices hushed the last one and Jensen turned his head to the side and looked up; he was alone. The last thing he remembered was running through lonely, bleak streets, a massive blur of a monster chasing him then falling into a ditch. Now, dull sunlight shone above him and birds chirped on, but he was still down in the hole. 

Slowly, Jensen rolled to his side then shuffled to his back when he met the side of the hole. After clearing his throat, he called out, “Someone there?”

Just birds and crickets sounded above him. 

Even more slowly than before, Jensen slid to a knee then up to his feet and stood, rising enough to see out of the hole. He stalled when the voices came back, though softer than before.

“Oh, wow. He’s a pretty one.”

“Shh! We are _not_ ogling him.”

“I am!”

“Is he sitting?”

“No, he’s standing.”

“Huh.”

“What?” Jensen asked while looking around and finding the landscape of grass and trees otherwise vacant. Adding to confusion, he realized it wasn’t the same park he’d run through; there were no buildings in the area. Instead, impossibly tall trees with wide branches provided cover from the sun, casting a faint glow on the ground.

“He’s short.”

“Not short! Just short _er_.”

“He’s way shorter than Jared.”

Jensen spun in place to catch the voices, and then yelled, “I’m not short!”

A few giggles floated through the air. Again, Jensen’s heart picked up a few extra beats. 

“Jared will know what to do with him.”

“When’s he coming?”

“Who’s there?!” Jensen yelled. He was quieted when some foliage and flowers bordering the hole bustled together with more hushed noises. 

Jensen ran a hand over his hair and then propped himself up to sit at the edge of the ditch before pulling his phone out and attempting a call. It beeped at him, unable to connect.

After a few more attempts, hushed laughter made him frown and look around again. 

“He’ll never get anywhere with that.”

“It’s not like he knows better.”

“So she brought us a dumb one?”

“He’s not dumb!”

“He is.”

“At least he’s pretty.”

“Jared’ll like that.”

Jensen shouted, “Alright! Who is that? Show your face!”

A crowd of flowers at one end of the hole, a spectrum of colored buttercups, turned towards him and stood at attention. 

“No,” he whispered as he stared at them. 

The yellow flower dipped forward, bending at the middle point of its stem then righting itself. “Hi,” the voice came shyly. “It’s us.”

“What?” the red one said, spinning and tapping the yellow one. “No! Don’t talk to him.”

The pink, green, and blue ones spun closer to the others and together hushed, “Stop it!”

Jensen crouched before them as they all straightened once again. His eyes flipped between each of the five that had moved and he cleared his throat. “It’s you guys?” 

The green and blue ones turned at him. “We’re not guys!” 

His hands went into the air and his eyebrows rose as he scooted back a bit. “Okay, alright. So, talking flowers?” Jensen took a deep breath. “I’m going crazy.”

Waving in all directions, the buttercups hushed together then the pink one turned to face the group. “It’s not like we can’t help him. Come on everyone!” 

They each moved in what could be classified as a shrug, but Jensen was leery to actually believe it, and instead looked around and asked, “Where am I?”

“Oh my gosh, he doesn’t know!” the pink one cooed and spun in circles that defied the logical abilities of its stem. A few others fluttered with it – except the red one, which stayed in place and turned slightly from side to side. 

Jensen carefully watched them all, noting how they moved in a quick flurry, rambling over each other, and then slowly turned towards him and remained silent.

“What don’t I know?” he slowly asked.

The red one fluttered and the patronizing voice came out. “Told you he was stupid.”

“I’m not stupid … stupid,” Jensen argued before he could think better of doing such a thing with a flower. 

“Well, you certainly won that round.”

Jensen clenched his jaw and muttered, “I’m not stupid. Except I’m totally talking to flowers. I’m not stupid, just insane.” He stood and ran a hand over his head, unable to wrap his head around any bit of the situation. “Just, maybe, you all could help me out? Show me where to go?”

“Um, we’re kind of,” the pink one said before snagging itself back and forth. Jensen realized they were referring to being tied to their roots. “It’s not that we don’t want to help you …”

“We would if we could!” the green one all but shouted. 

He shuffled closer, kneeling and leaning towards the flowers. “Okay, so, how about you just tell me where I am and who the Jared guy is you were talking about?”

They joined together to laugh, even the red, cranky one. The yellow one bent forward. “Jared is … Jared. You can’t put words to him. But he’s been looking for you.”

Jensen spun on his feet to look around, suddenly mindful of being chased yet again.

“It’s okay! He’s good. He’s your guide. Danneel has enlisted his assistance.”

He turned back immediately and stared down on the yellow buttercup. “Danneel? From the coffee shop?”

The pink and blue ones swayed as the green one nodded, “Oh, yes. She has the sweetest beverages in the land.”

Then the pink one nodded along with the rest. “Yes, and she has very lovely mugs.”

“Mugs!” the red one snickered and bumped into the green one, laughing, while the others hushed and shifted away from them. 

Jensen rolled his eyes and stood to look at anything other than the talking flowers. “For Christ’s sake,” he muttered. Not a single direction looked more promising than another but he still tried to figure out which way he should head to find _something_ to help him. Rubbing a thumb across his mouth, Jensen lamented his current situation and tried to figure out how to get a lead on getting back home when it suddenly appeared as though the lights were going out. 

“What’s going on?” he asked with worry, spinning in place to catch the forest darkening and the flowers wilting. He dropped to his knees, fingers holding the flora up. “What is this? What happened?”

The blue one shivered then slid easily into Jensen’s palm. “Night time. We rest.”

He checked his watch, which alarmingly read 3:17pm. His eyes scanned the area once more, catching how fast the darkness was covering the ground and how all other foliage was slowly willowing down, just as the buttercups had. 

Jensen shook his head and decided he was living out the strangest dream he’d had in his entire life. He dropped to his knees then shifted to sit back against a tree. He was anything but tired, but given that it was fast becoming pitch black, and the only chance he had for answers was a slew of talking flowers that were then going to bed, he didn’t see any other option. 

He closed his eyes and relaxed long enough to try to figure out what was going on and to consider that maybe when he woke up, he’d be in his apartment, nestled tight within his down blankets, and back to his own life.

What he was next aware of had nothing to do with the life he’d lived for the past thirty-two years. Instead, there was loud breathing, _excessively loud breathing_ , and when he opened his eyes, all he could see was a pair of dark eyes, each as big as his head if not bigger, and a monstrous nose sniffing along his head. 

It took a few moments for his response, but he jerked away just as “Down boy! Down!” was called with a great roar. 

Jensen looked up, and the creature – a mammoth fifteen-foot-long, ten-foot-tall sleek, wolf-like beast – turned away from Jensen and made minor whining noises before bearing down on Jensen again. 

“Harley! I said down!” The creature finally slunk back and pressed itself as low to the ground as possible.

Jensen scooted further from the beast, even while it continued to watch him, tipping its head to the side and regarding him thoughtfully. Then a second beast hustled across the landscape with a man perched atop and outlined by the suddenly dawning sun. Jensen rushed to his feet as they neared, intent to take off running in any direction, but just seconds later, they stopped before him. 

“Jared!” the flowers cried from behind Jensen, and he spun to them before standing proper and watching the man hop down from his animal to approach them.

“I knew you’d come!”

“Did you see who Danneel brought?!”

“Jared! You’re really going to do it!”

The man chuckled and knelt before the flowers, peeling gloves off his hands and then smoothing over and under the buttercups with a broad smile. “Everybody, calm down. Everything’s okay.” 

“We haven’t seen you in forever!”

“Forever!” the green one cried while shaking.

He paid special attention to that one, curling fingers around its stem and crouching closer to it than the others. “I know, sweetheart. It’s a busy world, you know?”

Jensen’s attention was so drawn to the man coddling the flowers that he’d forgotten about the other creatures. At least until the second one nudged hard into his back and he stumbled forward. It then tongued at his head, pushing and licking and doing it all over again before Jensen could get out of the way. Jensen breathed out a loud “Oof!” and then an “ _Eww!_ ” as it continued licking at him, leaving strings of saliva between them. In his haste to get away, Jensen tripped to the ground then covered his face while shouting for help.

The man rushed over and raised his hand as a threat towards it. “Sadie! You know better!”

The creature bowed in discipline and then turned towards Jensen with sad eyes.

With a gentle smile, the man nodded and patted between its eyes, down its nose, and finally under its chin. “I know, baby, but you gotta play nice. Best behavior, first impressions, and all that.” He reached for Jensen, lifting him off the ground and dusting him off. “My apologies. She’s a little excited for you.”

“Couldn’t tell,” Jensen muttered as he wiped the saliva away with his free hand. 

He kept Jensen’s hand tight in his and then clutched at Jensen’s other arm with a strong grip. “Jensen. I am so glad to have finally found you.”

Jensen ducked for a moment, trying so hard to ignore the warmth and insistence in the voice. “Yeah, that’s me. You Jared?”

“That I am. At your service,” Jared said, stepping back and releasing Jensen to bow. The flowers snickered and Jared tossed them a quick, tiny smile with a soft, “Quiet, you.” 

As Jared stretched to his full height, Jensen’s eyes wound from his chest up to the very top of his head, and his eyes bugged out at how _tall_ Jared really was.

“Wow, he’s short,” the red buttercup declared.

“Hey!” Jensen whined.

Jared smirked and looked over his shoulder. “Be nice, Mark. He’s only human.”

A small snort drew Jensen’s attention long enough to glare, but Jared immediately led him with a hand to his back, moving them close to the creatures again. “I’m not so sure about –” Jensen started just as his feet stopped moving.

“Harley and Sadie. My steeds,” he announced while sweeping a hand in their direction.

“You’ve got some pretty big steeds.”

“That’s what she said,” Mark muttered, and Jared and Jensen both glared that time, not to mention the flowers all fluttering around him. “What? It was right there, just waiting.”

Before more could be said, Jensen threw his hands into the air. “Okay, wait. Just … what the hell is going on?”

The flowers hushed and fluttered, and Jensen frowned at them. Jared stepped back to Jensen. “Is there a problem?”

“Yeah, the problem is I don’t know where I am and how to get back. And now I’m just going to follow you … wherever.”

“Yes. I am your guide,” Jared nodded.

“My guide back?”

Jared made a face then bit his lip. “Your guide yes. But not back.”

Jensen stared. “Then where?”

“To the palace.”

He laughed then stopped at the depth of Jared’s serious look. “To the palace?”

“Yes, the palace.” Jared motioned back to the animals. “I’d ask which you’d like to ride, but I’m pretty sure my babygirl will have a broken heart if you deny her the chance.”

Jensen’s eyebrows shot up and he grimaced as he assessed them both. Even as they bowed down with their eyes closed, seemingly innocent, he couldn’t deny the enormous size of the creatures. “You ever just walk?”

He chuckled then patted Jensen’s back. “My dear friend, no. The palace is a couple thousand miles away. Walking is insanity.”

“And riding a beast isn’t?”

The animals cowered and Jensen swore he could see sadness ring their eyes. Jared also looked a bit offended, even though he gave a tight smile and seemed to be doing his best to avoid answering. Jared pushed a hand into the air and nodded. “I insist. Choose your steed.”

Harley stood tall while Sadie tipped her head down and regarded him kindly, shyly even. _Lunacy_ , absolutely, ridiculous lunacy to be standing there and considering he get atop one of the creatures. “You gonna get me home?”

Jared gave a small smile. “When all is said and done, you’ll be home.”

“What’s that include?”

“A great and masterful journey.” Jensen continued to eye him, and Jared still smiled. Even as he tightly said, “It’s not as though you have another option. Stay here with the buttercups or you have a guide and steed. Take your chance as you will.”

Jensen finally shook his head with a short laugh. “Alright, funny, joke’s on me. My brother do this?”

“Your brother?”

“I know, Katie did. Take away my account then drug me or something, and drop me in the middle of Neverland. Real creative,” he huffed and chuckled again, harsher than before. Then spun away and marched in the opposite direction.

Jared began to follow, and called out. “Jensen, where’re you going?”

“Home.”

“I can get you home when we’re done.”

He turned to walk backward and shook his head. “Think we’re already done.”

Jared stopped in place and looked all sorts of troubled. His mouth opened and closed before he managed to say, “This world isn’t like yours. You’re not safe alone.”

“Who says I’m safe with you?” he laughed then carried on his way.

\- - -

Jensen traveled a good deal downhill, taking the plane traversing away from the buttercups and Jared that never picked itself back up. He hadn’t a clue where he was or how to find his way back home, but he had a distinct feeling it was anywhere away from talking flowers and mammoth dogs.

He continued on further than he had planned to travel, and it began to bother him. His stomach knotted as he realized it’d been a few hours, and there was still nothing more than sprawling grass, shaded trees, and spiraling brooks.

It didn’t take long to lose track of his direction and he headed towards the lake ahead of him, sparkling with the sun and crackling from the light wind sweeping across the surface. Growing close, he saw the very tips and tails of fish splitting through the water, some leaping through the air and splashing right back into the lake. 

Jensen rushed forward with a smile, intent to wash up a bit and drink a little. He did both while kneeling at the lake’s edge. His hand brushed with a fish and he smirked at the wispy fin. He reached back down to cup more water, even spreading a careful hand to touch again. The water rippled towards him then a fish head broke free, opening wide and menacing with three rows of teeth snapping at his hand. Shouting out, he scrambled back and fumbled to his feet. As his heart began to settle, he laughed at himself for the reaction and looked around, finally catching sight of people around the far edge of the lake. 

He jogged around the way, intent to get help or direction or, more importantly, a place to rest; he’d been traveling far too long to not stop soon. But as he neared, he caught the distinction between three soldiers and two commoners – the latter being reprimanded for something Jensen didn’t know about. Soon enough, the soldiers struck one man while another pushed the second commoner down and cackled at them. 

Hurrying his steps, he called out, “Hey! What’re you –”

Jensen was yanked behind a rock with one hand wrapped around his mouth and another pulling on his arm. He was held tight against someone who began shushing his protests and he fought against the hold. It remained tight, but then they both shifted and he realized it was Jared. Jensen pushed against him, but Jared just held more firmly and said low in his ear, “Calm down. You will get us killed.” Jensen froze, breathing loudly through his nose. Jared slowly withdrew the hand covering Jensen’s mouth as he asked, “Will you stay quiet?”

Jensen nodded, and the moment Jared’s hands released him, he frantically whispered, “What the hell are you doing?”

Jared spun Jensen in his arms and again covered Jensen’s mouth, wrapping his other arm around Jensen’s neck to keep him in place. “You need to be quiet,” he murmured. “It’s the Queen’s men. They find us out here and we’re table scraps.”

“For what?” Jensen mumbled into Jared’s hand.

He shifted to look at Jensen and slowly released his hand with question in his eyes; Jensen nodded that he’d be quiet. “For the palace guards,” Jared said slowly.

“They eat people?!”

Jared rolled his eyes and again trapped Jensen’s mouth. “Can you _please_ remain quiet when you say you will?” He seemed leery of Jensen’s sorry nod and continued to muzzle his mouth. “Some of the Queen’s largest beasts guard the front wall. You don’t want to know them this early in your journey.”

Jensen mumbled incoherently then sighed when Jared still refused to remove his hand. He fought against Jared’s hands, eventually slapping at his forearm to make Jared stop. They shared a long glare until Jensen raised his hands in apology. Jensen hushed, “I’ll be quiet. I’m sorry. Gosh.” As he slid around to Jared and took a peek from the side of the rocks, he saw the assault become particularly nasty and one-sided with the commoners all but lifeless on the ground and the soldiers laughing through the attack. “Why don’t we stop them?”

Settling next to Jensen, Jared watched as well. “They’ll take us in, too.”

“I thought you wanted to take me to the palace anyway.”

“Different palace. We have to see the Princess first.”

Jensen stared, eyebrows furrowed, and really tried to consider the situation, but he had no luck figuring it out. 

Jared regarded him with a small smile. “You want to come along with me now? You won’t be eaten by piranhas or beaten by guards.” 

He scooted to a seat, leaning back on the rocks with a sigh. “One cup of coffee and I’m running for my life.”

Shifting to a crouch, Jared forced an odd smile even while the rest of him was solemn. “Jensen, please. Come with me. I can protect you.”

Jensen stared in return then logged Jared’s warm look and intent eyes. “Yeah?”

“I did now, did I not?” he asked with a tiny smirk.

Nodding, Jensen rose and they crept away to avoid being seen. The further they got from the fight, the faster they hustled through the final few hundred yards to where Harley and Sadie were hiding. 

“God, those flowers were right. I _am_ stupid,” Jensen mumbled to himself. As he moved closer to the steeds, he rolled his eyes at himself. “Can’t believe I’m doing this.” Jensen stood before Sadie and watched carefully, waiting for her to lick him, or even bite his entire head off. He slowly raised a hand towards her head. “You gonna play nice? Try to keep the licking to a minimum?”

Jared appeared at Jensen’s side and guided his hand over the turn of Sadie’s cheek. “She likes this here,” and then he scrubbed their hands together at the hair that swept back towards her ear. He smiled at Jensen then up to Sadie and rubbed a hand over her snout. “Such a pretty girl.”

Jensen smiled as well as he could. He was, in fact, petting a mammoth animal that had taken to him like a lollipop, he’d done his best to not say vaguely inappropriate things in front of talking flowers, a giant piranha almost took of his hand, and Jared had to stop him from interrupting a particularly nasty fight. He supposed it really could have been worse; he could have been completely alone and without any assistance whatsoever. Plus, Jared seemed like a fairly nice guy, and was helpful enough to suddenly push Jensen up, hands pressing into the back of his knees and lifting as if he were a feather. 

“Whoa, I can –” Jensen protested, only to be quieted when Jared shoved at his back to manhandle him the rest of the way up. Jensen had no clue on how to respond until Sadie slid close and further nudged Jensen into place with a paw.

He cleared his throat and looked down to Sadie’s mane, which he curled hands into, and then over to Jared hopping his way up Harley’s paw and climbing his hair to sit up top with an easy smile. Jensen was prepared to defend his masculinity over Jared hauling him around like a toy, but Jared just tugged the edges of Harley’s hair and shouted, “Get!” 

The two animals rose, spinning and charging off in the direction they’d come from.

They rode for hours, and whenever Jensen said anything, his voice was muddled by the wind as Sadie dashed across the landscape in quick, steady movements. Her feet pounded the earth even while her body slid smoothly through the air, and Harley ran just as well with Jared effortlessly riding.

Jensen’s watch told him it was nearing sundown, _his_ night time, so when the sunlight striped away for darkness, he wasn’t as surprised. However, when Jared eased Harley into a slower pace and Sadie followed suit, he had to wonder and was finally able to ask over the quieter gait. “Where are we going?”

Jared smiled. “To the palace.”

“Where’s the palace?”

“Five hundred miles,” Jared nodded back. 

His fingers tugged Sadie’s hair, which caused her to whine and stutter, and he quickly soothed a palm over the spot. “I’m sorry. So sorry,” he mumbled and then turned to Jared again. “That’s pretty far, yeah? I mean, even for these guys?”

“Yes, it is far,” he said with a playful smile.

Jensen looked across the land and had even less of an idea of where they were than when Jared had first come upon him. “How much further?”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be stopping soon.”

Soon came as the sun set further, darkening the sky, and Sadie and Harley slowed to an easy march until Jared directed them to a slope of land on their right. As they neared it, Jensen caught the steep drop coming upon them and nervously gripped Sadie’s hair and leaned back to ease himself through it. Both steeds expertly stepped down the rocks that led to a valley and a long, winding river that circled the space. They each spun then sat, bowing far enough down for Jared to slide down and Jensen to follow suit.

Jared reached back up to Harley and released a few satchels then tossed one at Jensen. 

“What’re we doing?” Jensen asked as he turned the bag over in his hands. 

“There is camping in your world, right?” he smiled, crouching to the ground and digging through one of the bags.

“Well, yeah, but …”

“ _But?_ ” he asked, looking up with and easy smile.

Jensen dropped his satchel to the ground and finally let out his questions with obvious irritation. “Okay, what is going on?” Jared simply smiled in return and Jensen’s annoyance amped up. “What am I doing here? Why are you my guide? What’s at the palace? And when can I go back?”

“Wow, a lot questions there,” Jared smirked as he stood and watched Jensen tense up even more. Then Jared’s words tumbled out. “Cassidonia is in trouble. You’re here to slay the dragon. Someone has to keep you out of trouble. Danneel and Princess Adrianne. When you slay the thing.”

Jensen swallowed, wanting so much to not have heard any of Jared’s answers. “Excuse me?”

Jared counted off with his fingers, “Trouble, dragon, Princess, slay, done.” 

His head tipped one way then another, fumbling with the proper response, or even the patience. “ _Excuse me?_ ” 

There was a large, bright smile planted on Jared’s face and he continued to watch Jensen. 

“There’s a _dragon_?”

“Well, it’s more like,” and Jared spread his arms wide, puffed his cheeks out, and teetered from side to side with a wide, clumsy stance. 

“What is that?”

“I guess more of an ogre? She’s ogre-ish. She’s the Queen’s little pet. Creepy, _big_ pet.”

“Oh, right,” he replied sarcastically. “Of course.”

“She guards the Red Castle and denies access to those not on the Queen’s side. You have no idea how many times others’ve tried to oust it, and how many times they’ve failed.”

Long, silent moments ticked down the time between Jared’s statement and Jensen’s reaction, which came out as half cough, half whimper. “You’ve failed? And you’re now enlisting me?”

His eyes stayed with Jensen’s until he blinked and seemed to shrug with every muscle in his face. “Only hope and all that.”

“ _I’m_ your only hope?”

The facial shrug happened once more and, despite Jensen huffing and throwing his hands into the air as he turned away, Jared confidently answered, “You are our only hope to take down the Vile Millicent.”

“Vile Millicent? Kind of lacking for a menacing ogre-ish monstery name, no?”

“I’m not so sure… She’s vile, and her name’s Millicent.”

Jensen looked up to the sky, pausing just enough to realize that during their conversation, nearly all light had escaped them and there was just a flat black sky with a patch of sun fading in the West. He didn’t want to talk about the ogre so he focused on the night. “What’s with the sun? Do you not get it much or something?”

Jared roamed the area, stacking firewood in his arms while Harley and Sadie fell into a breathy sleep. “We do not operate quite like you do. Our days pass much faster.”

“Yeah, I see that.”

He looked at Jensen with an odd smile that turned into a frown and he continued gathering wood. “It’s the Queen’s doing. She shifted the sun’s phases and it gives her beasts more time to roam at night. And the guards, too. Like we saw at the lake.”

“She can do that?” Jensen asked flatly. With Jared’s sharp look, Jensen frowned and tried to sound nicer. “Right, talking flowers aren’t so different from changing lunar cycles and free police reign.”

Jared nodded as he continued to move throughout the space. 

Jensen’s eyes raked over the steeds, for the first time really taking in the size and strength of their paws, which were likely to cover his entire chest and squash him in just one movement. He shivered with the thought and walked alongside Jared. “So, Cassidonia? What is it?”

“It’s our country. King David left it to Princess Adrianne, his youngest daughter. His eldest daughter was always a menace to the royalty, so he bypassed her.” Jared shook his head and took a deep breath. “She and the Princess are enemies, so she was none too happy about that one. When the King passed on, she moved into the Red Castle, took the crown from Princess Adrianne, and forbade entry with the position of Vile Millicent.”

Clearing his throat, Jensen attempted to not roll his eyes or call Jared out on the ridiculous story. Instead, he earnestly went along. “Where is Princess Adrianne?”

“At the White Palace. Her mother’s family left her the land and the locals built it for her.”

“Why doesn’t she just rule from there?”

Jared’s smile slid as he shook his head and led them back towards their belongings. “There’s great power in inhabiting the Red Castle. Many of the countryfolk see that as true authority. Until then, the Queen reigns.” He dropped the wood and arranged it between a neat pile and a specified pattern for a fire. “And she’s a nasty … she’s just … she is not Princess Adrianne. That’s what she is.”

Jensen let silence fall between them as Jared started the fire, checked on the steeds, and assembled items from another pack to serve as mats to rest on. He pathetically followed Jared, trying his best to not be completely useless while Jared so efficiently prepared the camp. Feeling ineffective and awkward, Jensen crossed his arms and looked around them, taking in nothing more than rocks and grass and dirt, all sparsely lit by the campfire. “If you get night every few hours, how do you get anything done? You really sleep every time?”

“We don’t have to sleep each time,” he smiled in return as he settled down next to Harley and used the animal to rest back on. Harley’s tail randomly swept forward before slipping against Jared’s body. Jensen smiled lightly, unable to find the scene anything but endearing. “It’s more for them. All that energy to run needs to be replenished.”

A quick look told him that Sadie was not far behind him, so Jensen sat against her and smiled when her tail swung close. 

Tightly, Jared added, “Plus, I don’t trust them running at night. There are some bad things out there that they can’t see in the dark.”

Considering Jared’s worry, Jensen threaded his fingers through the soft hairs that covered Sadie’s tail, still gently smiling as he did. It was surprisingly calming in that moment.

“You really didn’t know about any of this? About your role?” Jared asked quietly.

Jensen raised his head and watched Jared, catching how carefully he was looking right back, as if he were critiquing Jensen. He cleared his throat and shook his head while looking back on Sadie, continuing to pet her. “No, I didn’t. Why me?”

Jared spoke formally, reciting his words from perfect memory. “Come his thirty-second, the Fair Child shall salvage the kingdom and bring justice down on the vile. He shall release the needy from their charge and open the sky.”

“Oh. Okay then,” he said with a small frown and nod.

“You’re the Fair Child.”

Another nod and Jensen chuckled, “Yeah, I got that.”

“And you just had a birthday.”

Once more, Jensen nodded, but he remained silent as the memories of that night ran through him. Being mostly ignored and passed over during a celebration that was supposed to be for him was not something he wanted to relive. But he couldn’t stop the moment from replaying in his mind.

“Was it not a good one?”

Jensen chuckled and shook his head. “No, not quite. But I’m used to it.”

“How so?”

As Jared’s expression turned soft, Jensen, too, eased up. “Josh, my older brother, is the favorite. My dad never hides that. It was supposed to be my birthday party, but instead they celebrated the company. My dad’s company,” he tacked on.

“Did you not have friends with you? Or other family?”

“Uh, no,” he mumbled. “I usually keep them away. Don’t exactly like to be humiliated in front of company.”

Jared shifted against Harley, legs pulling up and crossing as he appeared more interested and yet confused. “Your family doesn’t know how you feel?”

Jensen shook his head and ducked his head away, hiding the bitterness he was sure could be read on his face. He’d given up asking for their affection a long time ago. 

“You should tell them.”

His eyes caught Jared’s and stayed with him for longer than he’d like to admit. Time and again, Chris and Steve, and even Alex, had pushed him to move on and forget it all, to break away from the family and be his own person. Jensen wholeheartedly agreed. But he’d never experienced the soft touch in Jared’s voice telling him to strike out on his own; it was always insistence and impatience being thrown his way. Jensen rubbed a hand over his mouth and pushed back into Sadie to rest more comfortably. 

“Yeah, I know,” Jensen responded without any real feeling.

Jared’s gaze felt warm and seemed to last longer than Jensen expected, but then Jared softly smiled, “So, tell me about the Fair Child.”

“No idea what _Fair Child_ even means,” Jensen said with a snort.

His voice came out much like before, reciting the words without pause. “Born as the middle, fair in skin and temperament, the Fair Child shall provide the balance between youth and responsibility, stepping forward with grand valor, and embrace the most significant undertaking.”

“Lemme guess. Slay the ogre?”

“Slay the ogre,” Jared said with a smile.

Another shake of his head, and Jensen mumbled, “And I thought life in Dallas was rough.”

Jared’s head kicked back on a laugh and then he settled against Harley with an easy, broad smile. “Dallas is where you’re from?”

Jensen’s brow furrowed. “How do you know all about my being the Fair Child but not anything else?”

His smile tightened then dissipated, as did his warm gaze, which slipped into something dark and awkward. “I know enough to complete my mission. To guide you to yours.”

“Why don’t _you_ do it?” Jensen asked as he sat forward, interested in knowing how so many others were overlooked for him. “You’re obviously more competent in this world than I am.”

He shook his head and spoke tightly, “No, _this_ is my duty. You have a path, and I have a path. Mine is to escort you and that’s it.”

“What happens after? You get a corner of the palace?” Jensen asked with a crooked smile, yet he could see Jared stiffen.

“Something like that,” Jared said uneasily. It wasn’t until he looked away, burrowing back into Harley for comfort, that his gaze eased up. 

Jensen couldn’t stop watching him, waiting for the mood to lighten.

“We should at least rest a little,” he continued distantly. “Tomorrow, we will be riding for as long as possible. Lost some time looking for you today.”

The way Jared fell into silence told Jensen there wasn’t room for discussion. Jensen slid down along the mat and rested his head with Sadie’s tail as a pillow.

\- - -

He had intended to shut his eyes for just the moment, but he’d fall into a deep sleep, only disturbed with Jared rustling around the camp to clean up. As Jared fastened a pack to Sadie, he smiled down on Jensen. “Morning, sunshine.”

Jensen squinted against the strong cut of light edging its way through the valley and then rolled over and up to his hands and knees. He groaned and stretched with the stiffness of his back and arms from sleeping on the ground, but still gave a small smile for Jared’s benefit.

“Sleep good?”

“Great,” Jensen mumbled while twisting his head in each direction to ease the tension in his neck and shoulders as he stood. 

Jared passed by, resting a hand at Jensen’s back that patted then softened with a swipe across his shoulders. “Once we get going you’ll be good.”

“How long it take to get to the palace?”

“It will be a few more days,” he responded while fastening two more bags to Harley’s harness. “Are you tired of me already?”

Jensen found Jared’s hands working efficiently even while he grinned at him, as if his fingers knew the movements by heart and he could afford attention elsewhere. Jensen chuckled and checked his watch, which said it was near midnight his time. He wasn’t sure if he should bother questioning the timing in Jared’s world, or how to even work his mind through it. 

Instead, he decided to follow Jared to keep them on track. It’d worked well so far, even if he wasn’t sure what was actually happening. Especially when Jared was smiling at him as naturally as breathing and something hitched inside. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t noticed before, but Jared’s smile truly was a beautiful thing to experience, with the wide bend of his lips, bright teeth, dimples punctuating his cheeks. Jensen finally scratched through his hair and chuckled, “Nah, I’m good.” 

Then it hit him; he shouldn’t be good. He shouldn’t be flattered with Jared’s ease and attention, and especially not with that smile. Because he was in a relationship, or at least attempting to keep one, and he was going to patch everything together in two days at Mike’s birthday party, just as he’d told Alex he would. 

Jensen panicked for a moment, thinking of Alex and his last chance. “A few more days in your world is what in mine?”

“Figure in the palace and ball and then the slaying,” Jared rambled while flexing a finger in the air, ticking numbers off. “Possibly two? Maybe three?”

Last Jensen knew, it had been Tuesday, and returning on Friday just wouldn’t be good enough. “Oh, no, no, no. I have to be back by Thursday.”

Jared chuckled and, just as effortlessly as the day before, slipped up Harley to sit, ready to ride. “I’m not so sure about that.”

Jensen immediately tugged his phone out, fingers coursing buttons before he cursed the thing because it still wouldn’t connect for a call, text, or email. 

“That won’t work here.”

“Yeah, I see that,” he snapped back. His fingers clenched the phone at his side as he breathed harshly, trying so hard to calm himself so he wouldn’t snap at Jared again. 

Jared shifted and his voice came out teasing, “You have a date or something?”

“Something like that,” he sighed, feeling entirely too resigned to his life falling completely apart. 

“I’m sure she’ll wait for you.”

Jensen turned to Jared and took a few moments to just look. The man was content with the idea that time would wait for their mission; everything else was on hold, and nothing could be considered important with the problems for all of Cassidonia before them. Jensen finally allowed the idea to settle and he realized there was nothing he could do to change the course, _his_ course. But he wasn’t going to allow it to happen without some griping “He. And no, he won’t.”

Jared gave a tiny shrug then an easy smile and said, “Well, we better ride.”

And they did. For far longer than Jensen had anticipated, and then became ever grateful for, because as night came upon them again, Jared continued to push the steeds forward. “Shouldn’t we be stopping?”Jensen shouted to be heard over the steeds’ loud gait.

“Wouldn’t want you to leave your little man waiting,” Jared chuckled in return, and then snapped at Harley’s mane to charge forward.

The steeds rode on, faster than before, hard enough that Jensen had to tuck himself down against Sadie and curl fingers into her mane for stability. Adrenaline pumped through him while the wind whipped his face with its cold burn, and before long, worry turned into exhilaration with the speeds at which Sadie carried him. 

The dark night shrouded much of his vision, but it made it all the more thrilling as she followed Jared and Harley, jutting this way and that, avoiding upcoming hazards of fallen trees, low-hanging branches, or sudden dips in valleys. It was smooth and fast, and Jensen loved every second of it.

Until Harley kicked himself up and back, spinning around with quick, frantic looks around them, and Sadie skidded alongside him.

Jared smoothed a hand over Harley’s head but he sat tall, shoulders rigid and eyes sharp on the darkness surrounding them. “Easy, boy,” he murmured, but the tension was clear in his voice.

Harley crept back on their intended path, but wouldn’t turn in that direction, Sadie just as skittish. 

“What’s going on?” Jensen asked, fighting back panic, whipping himself around to see into the night.

“Shh, shh, shh,” Jared eased with a hand towards Jensen. His voice dropped even lower while he continued to pet Harley with more purpose than before, as if encouraging the steed to ease up. “What is it, boy? What do you see?” Suddenly, Jared’s eyes locked onto something beyond the left edge of the horizon, and Harley’s and Sadie’s sights were aimed there as well. 

Jensen fought to see clearly, but the cover of night was all too much and there was no way to discern what the steeds and Jared had spotted. Noises grew from a low, innocent rumble into distinguishable growls, ones that made Jensen’s heart race and forced the steeds to slink down into a defensive position. 

“Stay quiet,” Jared whispered, even as he led Harley to slowly step away from the oncoming sounds. Sadie fell into the same slow crawl to keep them moving without attracting too much attention. 

They snuck across the land at the same rate that the snarls traveled, which did little to comfort Jensen. Whatever was following kept on following, and even though there was enough distance to not actually see what they were, it seemed impossible to slip away. Jensen’s attention was sharp when Jared looked away, spotted something behind them, and then turned back. “What is it?” Jensen whispered. 

Jared’s hands were a steady movement over Harley’s head even while he smiled in Jensen’s direction. “You hold on tight, now, you hear?” 

Jensen’s hands gripped firmly as his eyes zeroed into the space before them, still searching for the threat as his heart sped up.

That was the moment a sliver of moonlight slipped over them, revealing sniffing, sniveling beasts. They were half the size of either of the steeds but twice as menacing with long fangs spread up and over lips, horns twirling out of their heads, and long claws digging into the grass with each step towards them. 

By Jensen’s quick count there were at least seven, maybe eight or nine, but just as quickly as they appeared, they fell back into shadows and he lost track of them. One jumped forward and Sadie twitched with a low whine. 

The beasts roared together, a great blend of monstrous shouts and rough growls. 

“You holding on?” Jared shouted over the growing noise.

“Yeah!” he yelled back as he tugged on Sadie’s mane and tucked his legs tight against her. “I’m here!”

Jared chanced one quick look and their eyes met long enough for them each to read some level of fear. But then Jared’s mouth inched into a smile with his commanding, “Get!” and the steeds rolled in quick, fluid turns to race away. 

Jensen held on for dear life, Sadie’s speed threatening to buck him off far too often. He all but lay against her, eyes tight and hands even tighter to keep from falling. Every so often, against his better judgment, he turned back to watch the full line of beasts still following, skittering over and between each other, fighting for position, and nearing them with unbelievable swiftness across the land. 

Following the moonlight and with expert navigation, Jared directed Harley and Sadie for every route that brought on any sort of obstacle – quick climbs up hills, rock settlements, even sand traps – but the creatures kept up. 

Before long, Jared looked back and Jensen could read the smile coursing his face, even as he egged Harley forward. Jensen rose high enough to see the sprawling body of water before them and barely had enough time to close his eyes and hold his breath before the steeds strode right into it. The water rushed around him and filled his ears while the dark cover and depth disoriented him. 

It was as his lungs burned with the need for breath that Sadie surged up and cleared the surface. Jared was already laughing, pumping a hand into the air, and all but taunting the beasts scouring the edges of the coast and grunting in displeasure. 

When their eyes met, Jensen’s were charged with fright but Jared was glowing as he continued to laugh. “Good Lord!” Jared cried happily. “That was something!”

Jensen turned in each direction with worry, reminded of the piranhas from the other lake. 

Jared laughed again. “There are no fish in this lake.”

“You sure about that?”

“Definitely,” he beamed back.

Jensen pushed a hand over his face to clear it of water and then ran both hands over his head as he ordered his heart and lungs to calm down. “What _were_ those things?!”

“Mean little bastards, huh?” 

Jensen’s breathing continued harsh and fast while Jared aimed Harley and Sadie to continue across the lake. 

“Can’t swim to save their lives.” Then Jared smiled at Jensen, “But we sure can.”

“Where the heck did they come from?”

“Everywhere,” Jared returned easily, as if it was a well-known fact. “Shadowhogs come out in the dark and ravage the lands. More of the Queen’s pets.”

Jensen stared in disbelief, mostly at the fact that he was in a world where he had to worry about beasts named shadowhogs. “You’re kidding me.”

His gaze turned serious as he swept a hand over Harley’s head and down over his ear. “Did that look like a joke to you?”

“No, okay, not a joke. But really? _Those_ things?”

“That is why I don’t like being out at night,” Jared said as he looked down on Harley.

“Then why didn’t we stop?” Jensen frowned at Jared’s sharp look. “What?”

“You said you wanted to get home. I was trying to get you through this faster.”

His eyes widened and he snapped, “I’d also like to get through this alive if possible. Alex isn’t going to take me back if I’m dead!”

Jared simply nodded and faced forward while he encouraged Harley up the other side of the lake’s edge. It was uncomfortably quiet until Jared found an area to cruise up a rock settlement then down into a quarry that he deemed safe for the time being. He softly explained, “It’s unlikely they’ll get around the lake. We should be okay.”

They set up camp, silent but quick. Jensen was still soaked head to toe, but he did his best to not complain. The last time he did, Jared forced them longer on the trail than was sensible; he didn’t want to push them again. He settled alongside Sadie with damp, chilly clothes, and kept his hands at the fire to warm up. 

After Jared had his pack set up, he walked over to Jensen and handed him a sack of clothes with a short nod. Jensen looked up with surprise, not to mention a chest full of guilt. “I’m sorry,” Jensen quickly murmured.

“No, I’m sorry,” he returned softly, motioning the pack towards Jensen. “I should not have been so careless with your safety.”

Jensen stood, taking the clothes but still insisted, “I didn’t mean to be pushy about it.” 

“You weren’t. I should not have blamed you.” It took a few moments for Jared to ease up, and he did so with a tiny smile before pointing beyond Sadie. “Some privacy, to change.” Jensen stepped around her and Jared called out, “Alex is your partner?”

“Boyfriend, yeah,” Jensen answered before wincing and peeling the damp clothes from his skin. “Well, he will be. If I can get back in time.”

“What happened?”

He chuckled to himself in misery and continued disrobing then pulling on the trousers and long shirt Jared had lent him, all the while berating himself for even having to admit to the issue. “I, uh … I’m not the best with people. In following through, really. And he doesn’t deserve someone always blowing him off.”

Jared moved to the center of camp to prepare the fire, stacking wood he’d carried from their last stop. “Why do you leave him waiting? Do you not care for him?”

Jensen paused for longer than he really should have, which forced him to be defensive and assure himself more than Jared. “Of course I do. He just … deserves better. _I_ have to be better. Have to show him I’m a better person than that.”

“He doesn’t see that for himself?”

“What?” Jensen asked, stepping out from behind Sadie.

For a moment, Jared seemed startled by Jensen. His smile was hesitant before he frowned and busied himself with poking the fire and repositioning firewood. “I just meant that I hardly know you, but I see a good person.”

Jensen knew he should smile and be flattered by Jared’s statement, but there was an underlying current of uncertainty as to how true it was. He deflected the moment with a flat, “Right, because I’m the Fair Child.”

“No, not entirely,” Jared said while sitting back against Harley. “You’ve stepped into the role. You’ve come with me without question.” Jensen’s awkward look was answered by Jared’s smirk. “Without _too_ many questions.”

He chuckled to himself, shook his head, and then went to the sleeping mat to rest against Sadie. Her tail curled over his legs and he smoothed a hand over it. It hadn’t been long that Jensen had been with Jared and the steeds, and yet he was stunned that being there with Sadie and stroking her tail was something he really wanted – to be comforted. Jensen turned his attention back to Jared. “What about you? Family? A wife or girlfriend?”

“That’s my girl right there,” Jared said warmly, nodding towards Sadie. 

Jensen looked to Sadie with her head tucked down and resting on her two front paws, eyes closed and lips barely parting on each snuffle of sleep. He softly smiled at her. “This is your whole family,” Jensen stated more than asked and Jared slowly nodded. “You like doing this? Being a guide?”

Jared immediately busied himself with a pack, fumbling through it with his eyes intent on his task. “I’ve been in the White Palace for most of my life. It’s nice to get out on assignment.”

“What’s it like there?”

Before he answered, Jared tossed a small sack across the way, which Jensen immediately found to be full of berries and mixed nuts. “It’s white. Very white.”

Jensen chuckled and then ate a small handful of the snack, immediately moaning around the taste. Pure berry flavor split between his teeth and the juice was sweeter than anything he’d ever experienced. “Oh my God,” he mumbled through his chewing. “What are these?”

“Boysenberries. Blackberries,” Jared said while looking into his bag and shucking it around. “Maybe some raspberries, I forget what all I last picked.”

Shaking his head, Jensen practically shoveled another serving into his mouth, again moaning and then rolling his eyes through the flavors. His mind flashed back to the coffees Danneel had served him, and even while there was the issue of those drinks leading him into this world, he couldn’t deny how he relished the tastes. “Man, everything just tastes better here.”

Jared nodded with a satisfied look in his eyes. “We do love Cassidonia and all its flavors.”

“Is that why you’re so intent on saving it?”

He smiled. “The fruits are farmed on the far north end of the land by Prince Jeffrey’s ancestors. They have some of the best crops to be had in decades.” At Jensen’s odd glance, Jared added on, “Princess Adrianne is promised to Prince Jeffrey. They’re to be married in the fall.”

Jensen blinked, fighting anger and confusion before he spoke. “Why can’t he do this? How is this all my responsibility?”

“Come his thirty-second, the Fair Child –”

“There are obviously many, many people who are qualified for this,” Jensen cut in but with much less heat than he felt. “I’m not one of them.”

Silently, Jared watched him, waiting until Jensen let his frustration ease up. Jared continued on with his story: “There are tiny pockets of Cassidonia that are truly dedicated to Princess Adrianne. Beyond that, the Prince’s family is a great supporter in her rule. They harvest many of our crops, and even while they’re far off our travels, I’d gone there before finding you. I thought the Fair Child deserved the best.”

It took quite a few moments more for Jensen to really accept that it had already been determined that he was to complete this mission even while there were others who better understood this world. Wanting so much to ignore the responsibility, he nodded in Jared’s direction and changed the subject. “What else you got over there?”

“Are you hungry?” he asked playfully.

“ _Starving_.”

Jared laughed and sorted through his bag again as Jensen moved to join him, leaning back on Harley just as Jared was. They both looked up to Sadie’s snort and the quick movement of her tail, as if it were seeking Jensen out. “She’ll be okay,” Jared assured him with a pat on the knee. “She’s loyal and loving. Just a bit jealous.”

“Why is she jealous of me?” he asked while looking into the bag of food.

“Of me,” Jared corrected with a crooked grin. “She likes you. A lot.”

Jensen looked at her, tail still searching for him and head turning against her paws even while she slept. Jensen surprised himself by admitting, “The feeling’s not entirely one-sided.” 

Jared’s smile made his dimples pop, and it remained in place as he handed over another small bag of food, which Jensen immediately likened to what he knew as beef jerky. 

“Please tell me this is edible.”

Jared rumbled through a soft laugh and nodded. “Yes. It’s dried boar.”

“Oh, right, boar.”

“You would rather have shadowhog?”

“There is no way you eat those things,” Jensen shot back with a shudder. 

He shrugged with one shoulder up high as he self-consciously responded, “Sometimes you don’t have much else to fend for in these parts.”

“How does it taste?” Jensen dared to ask with a wince.

“Like chicken.”

As Jared’s voice came light and his mouth twisted into a smirk, Jensen laughed and elbowed him. “Shut up. It does not.”

“Everything does!” Jared poorly defended through his laughter. 

“God, shut up!” Jensen again poked Jared’s ribs, but he was surprised when Jared did just that, silencing himself and eating without another look. Jensen reached into the bag of berries, trying hard to ignore how close they were to one another and how Jared carefully regarded him through the moment. He ate more berries and nodded towards Jared, who was still watching him. “How did the Princess choose you for this?”

Jared cleared his throat and his face of any emotion, only showing the subtle ease he’d held for most of their travels. “She didn’t choose me. It was by decree that there would be a guide, just as you were named for this fight. My family was bound by the word.”

“You were born into this?” Jensen breathed out then tried to settle his voice. “With no choice? That doesn’t sound fair.”

“Yes, I was born into it,” he said with a long look. “But the court has allowed my living at the castle and provided me with many things over the years. My ancestors and many other folk consider it an honor. Escorting the Fair Child is a great responsibility.” 

“One you didn’t ask for,” Jensen pointed out quietly.

“But it’s mine,” Jared replied tightly. “And I’m going to see it through.” Jensen fell quiet and continued on eating. After some time, Jared pronounced, “It’s a monstrous task and anyone in the land would be proud to honor it. I don’t plan on doing anything but my best to see you to the end.”

Jensen looked at Jared, partly nervous for all that the mission entailed and all that Jared was prepared to do to keep Jensen safe and on task, not to mention grateful for Jared’s dedication to protect and guide him through it. He picked within the bag of fruit and quietly said, “If anything happens, and I don’t get a chance to say it … thank you. For helping me with all of this.”

Jared’s eyes were soft and it seemed as though he was prepared to say more. All that came from him was a gentle prodding of, “We should probably rest a little. I know I’ve had enough excitement for the night.”

With a nod and small smile, Jensen shuffled back to his sleeping mat and willed himself to sleep.

  
**THREE**

They went on the next morning much like the last two, Sadie and Harley surging across the land to bring them as far as possible before nightfall. Along the way, Jensen pointed out things of interest – a forest of bare, twisted trees in one direction and then a sparkling brook that shined like nothing he’d ever seen in his life, perfectly reflecting the sun above. Jared slowed the steeds long enough to explain each of Jensen’s interests with an effortless smile and smooth voice.

Jensen was eased by it each time, slipping into comfort with Jared at his side. 

Before long, the sun began to set and its shine drifted from the course ahead of them, but Jared, again, kept the steeds actively moving, though slower than the night before. 

“What’re you doing?” Jensen asked a bit more anxiously than he had intended. 

“Just getting a little farther,” he answered quickly, though assured. “If we get to the South Pass, we can be at the Palace by the next night.”

He looked around them, instantly worried for shadowhogs, and couldn’t ignore how his panic rose higher and higher the longer they went on. It spiked with every sound that he couldn’t pinpoint, and then he worried his lip between sharp teeth when he caught Jared’s eyes sweeping the area. “What is it?” 

There was no answer, just Jared turning to a noise behind them. Jensen didn’t see a thing, but after last night’s attack, he knew better than to assume they were safe. Jared led Harley close to Sadie and he smacked at Sadie’s flank, shouting, “Get! Go, girl!” Before Jensen could protest, she darted away, leaving Jared behind.

Jensen couldn’t help but hold tight to her fur with white-knuckled fingers, burning with the pressure but unwilling to let up. He strained to look behind, and he could barely make out figures approaching Jared and Harley, even while Jared steered in the other direction to put distance between them and the chase. 

“Stop! Go back!” Jensen shouted, tugging on Sadie’s mane. “Go _back!_ ” 

As she sped back to Jared, Jensen stared in horror as a crew of shadowhogs closed in on Harley. Sadie’s quick speed and fierce snarls distracted half the pack, which separated then ran off. The other half jumped at Harley, biting and clawing at his legs. Harley kicked outward and spun away, but couldn’t shake them. With one more sharp kick out, Harley bucked under Jared, shooting him into the air. Jared crashed to the ground, shouting and rolling away from the shadowhogs the closed in on him. 

Jensen directed Sadie as close as possible to snatch him. She batted some of the hogs away then reached with a large open paw and scooped Jared up with Jensen dragging him the rest of the way. He pulled him in front, holding him close and ignoring how little Jared protested and just fell into position. Jensen smacked at Sadie’s neck, shouting for her to chase down the rest and free Harley. His adrenaline kicked him out of fear and into determination as they moved in to save Harley. 

Sadie jumped at the shadowhogs, kicking up dust and earth and all but pounding down on them. They stopped their assault long enough for Harley to spin out and line up with Sadie. Both steeds dug claws into the ground, sweeping back and baring rows of jagged teeth and fangs. Sadie and Harley continued snarling until the shadowhogs were forced to step back and then again as the steeds advanced with fierce growls and paws slashing through the air. 

Jensen kept a strong arm around Jared, trying so hard at the moment to not focus on the press of his limp body. Instead, he held tight then yanked at Sadie’s mane, shouting, “Let’s go! Get!” and shifting along with her when she and Harley instantly backed off and dashed in the other direction. 

Jensen couldn’t dare himself to look back for quite some time, but when he did, he was comforted with the sight that the shadowhogs were scattering across the field, moving further away. As the hand in Sadie’s hair eased up, so did she, slowing to an easy pace that kept them on the path but allowed both her and Harley to calm themselves from the attack. 

He tucked his arm around Jared’s waist, holding him tight. “Hey, you okay?”

Jared shifted only enough to lean back into Jensen and mumbled, “I’m great.”

Jensen’s hand slid up to hold him better but he flinched at the dampness across the chest. When he pulled his hand away, it was soaked red. The shirt was shredded and Jared’s face was already bruised and bloodied. “Oh, no, no, no. Jared, you’re not okay,” he panicked while pressing his hand back against the wound to stop any further bleeding.

“I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t think so, buddy. Where’s the palace?”

Jared mumbled a happy, “Buddy,” as his head flopped back onto Jensen’s shoulder and his eyes shut. 

Jensen closed his eyes with a curse and held Jared even tighter. He yanked on Sadie’s mane to force her stop, and Harley moved in close, whining at Jared. As Jensen tried to keep Jared upright, he searched through the packs, coming up with his shirt from the day before and wrapped it around Jared’s chest, tying the arms around his back. He found another shirt of Jared’s and tied it, too, to force more pressure across the wounds.

“Sadie!” he shouted, again tugging on her mane. She twisted around to look at him and he patted down the side of her face. “Hey, babygirl,” he tried to coo, but even he could hear the worry in his words. “You know the palace? White Palace?” She nudged his hand and he had to swear it was her yes. “Take us there. As fast as you can.”

He lost track of time and distance as the steeds raced across the countryside. The dark didn’t help, nor did his rising anxiety as his mind would only focus on how quickly Jared bled through the shirts, ignoring potential threats in the night. He considered them safe when the bleeding slowed then stopped and he could still feel a faint pulse beneath his hand. 

The moment white spindles came into view, Jensen laughed then grinned while his eyes burned with tears. By then, the steeds were slowing from exhaustion, but he pushed on, encouraging, “Just a little bit more, sweetheart. We’re almost there.”

‘Palace’ was not quite the proper label; the sprawling grounds covered more than a city block and reached so far back that Jensen couldn’t tell where the property ended. ‘White,’ on the other hand, was the perfect adjective; the fortress shone with the rising sun, easily luring them across the greenest grass he had ever seen, perfectly decorated with twirls of flowers and weeping willows that bordered the trail leading up to the gates. As they neared, men charged forward and tried to stop the steeds until Jensen cried out for Princess Adrianne. 

Danneel slipped between the guards and cried a thankful, “Jensen!” before her face dropped at the sight of Jared slumped and unconscious in his arms. “What happened?!”

“Shadowhog,” he said with a tight, scratchy voice. “He needs help”

“Make way!” Danneel shouted. “Let them in!”

He directed Sadie across the concrete bridge spanning the carefully landscaped moat. She went as far into the palace as she could manage before she sat for Jensen to slide off. He reached up to bring Jared down as palace charges reached for Jared then carried him off before Jensen could say a word. His eyes remained on the way they took off, only shaken from it when Danneel touched his shoulder.

She lifted her hand away. “Jensen? Are you okay?” 

Flexing his hand, he looked down and caught the dull red caked into the creases of his skin. 

Her hand slid over his cheek, and she looked worried and elated in the same expression. “Jensen,” she murmured. “I cannot believe you are truly here.”

“Barely,” he mumbled, pressing a hand into his chest as if trying to keep himself in one piece.

“You’re here,” she said with more push.

His eyes searched hers and he all but begged, “He’ll be okay, right? You guys can help him?”

Danneel carefully smiled then nodded. “Yes, we will take care of him.” Her hand slipped down his arm then curled around his elbow to lead him further into the castle. “Come this way. You should rest.”

“I want to make sure –”

“He will be _fine_. We have many things your world lacks,” she murmured, pulling him with her. “You need some rest before you see the Princess.”

Right then, anxiety flared in his stomach and his lungs pushed all of the air from his body. He’d be meeting the Princess and still had a mission ahead of him. Yet Jared was unconscious and had bled a great deal; nothing, not even the Princess or the White Palace, mattered more than that. 

Danneel leveled him with a sharp glance. “Jensen, you cannot face her like this.”

“Or else what?” he asked on a hoarse chuckle. “You’ll send me back to my world and I won’t have to worry about defending an entire country’s honor?”

Her voice softened. “Please, just come with me. You cannot help him by being difficult.”

Jensen did his best to glare in return, but the exhaustion of the attack and the race to the palace had worn him down, settling high on his shoulders with a dull ache. Giving in, he mumbled, “Got a bed and a bathroom?”

\- - -

He found comfort in both, scrubbing away the dust and grime from the last few days, though he stared for a good, long time as Jared’s blood washed from his fingers and faded into the bath water. He did his best to look at the bright side: Sadie had led them to the Palace, someone was taking care of Jared, and they were all safe from another attack.

Jensen padded back into the bedroom, centered with a king size, four-post bed with a royal blue canopy gracing the top and pulled away to each corner. Across the blanket, a change of clothes was laid out for him, and through his pulling them on, Danneel appeared at the door. He fussed with fastening the pants and gave a tiny nod. “Thank you. For this,” he said quietly, swiping a hand down the front of his clean shirt. 

She joined him on the bed, all the while her fingers spun into and out of the fabric of her long dress. “He’s still asleep, but he will be okay.”

“Thank God,” he said on a loud exhale, tipping his head back and closing his eyes. 

Danneel nodded and gently grabbed hold of his hand, turning it into both of hers and squeezing. “Thank you for bringing him here. If it were any worse or any longer …”

He nodded in understanding and tightened his hand around hers. “I’m glad he’s okay.”

She smiled softly then visibly struggled while steeling herself against further emotions. When she next spoke, she sounded more composed. “Princess Adrianne expects you for dinner tomorrow night. Prince Jeffrey and many of the court will be there to honor you and your journey. But don’t be too nervous. They are all excited to meet you.”

With a harsh chuckle, he said, “Don’t be too nervous, right.”

Her hand again swept over his cheek and hair in one long, soothing motion and her eyes were wide in wonder as she took in the whole of his face. “The Fair Child.”

He again breathed deep and loud then shook his head, wracked with nerves for the whole matter, realizing that the eventual fight with the Queen’s monster was upon him sooner rather than later. It all made him laugh uncomfortably. “Is there any dragon-slaying training on the schedule?”

Danneel smirked and moved her hand over his heart. “It’s all here.” Confused, he covered her hand and waited for her to say more. “You’ll know when the time comes.”

Jensen had come to realize that sleeping in their world would come fast and end just as quickly; once night came, he slipped into a dead slumber, though when he next awoke, there was still darkness surrounding him, just a narrow glow slipping beneath the door. He tried for sleep, but all he could focus on was how Jared was and where he’d been since they arrived at the castle.

Seconds later, Jensen was meandering through barely lit hallways that twisted him around and led to dead ends and random staircases until he finally found what he’d been looking for: Jared’s room.

When he entered, he was struck with the lack of color on Jared’s face. So healthy and tanned when they’d first met, he now appeared slack and white with red scarring his temple. He was bare from the waist up, covered only in bandages tight around his chest, which thankfully lifted and fell with every breath, a sure sign that he was alive and on the mend. 

Jensen rested at the edge of the mattress, hand slowly reaching out and fingers sliding across the beaten knuckles of Jared’s hand, which then twitched and turned, making Jensen flinch. He realized Jared was seeking out his hand so Jensen turned his over and slid it into Jared’s. 

“You okay?” Jensen whispered as he gingerly held Jared’s hand. 

After a few long breaths, Jared slowly broke a tiny smile. “Yeah, I’m great.”

Despite himself, Jensen threaded their fingers together and mumbled, “That’s what you said when you were bleeding all over my hand.”

He puffed out a short laugh, eyes still closed, but smiling wider. “I think you may be a little overdramatic.”

“I think maybe you’re a little reckless with this whole thing. You could’ve died.”

Jared’s eyes finally opened and they stayed with Jensen for quite a while until he finally murmured, “ _You_ could’ve died.”

“You can’t just throw yourself into the middle of those things and – ”

“That’s my mission,” Jared croaked with the hard push of his voice that broke as he kept talking. “To keep you safe and on your journey. Do not lecture me on this. I know what my task is and I have fulfilled it thus far.”

Jensen’s eyes softened as did his hold on Jared’s hand. Before he realized it, his other hand came up to hold Jared’s in a warm fit. “Okay. I get it. I’m sorry.”

“And next time I say get, you get. You do not come back with my girl and put her into greater danger.”

“We were trying to _save you_.”

“Yeah, well …” and Jared trailed off with his voice losing most of its edge. 

He tucked Jared’s hand within his and warmed to the feel of fingers slowly curling over the side of his hand. “She did real good. Carried us both all the way back here. Like the speed of light.”

“My Sadie’s not dumb.”

“I know,” Jensen nodded with a tiny smile. “She knew exactly where to go.”

Jared swallowed then coughed with a rough noise, momentarily closing his eyes. “Is she okay? Harley, too?”

“Yeah, they’re both good.” 

Jared nodded with him and barely broke a smile, but Jensen could read the emotion in his eyes from knowing that his steeds were healthy and safe behind the palace walls. 

“Let’s make a deal,” Jensen started with a playful glare. “I go when you say go and you don’t throw yourself in front of the bus again.”

His hand flexed against Jensen’s before he shook his head. “I can’t agree to that. My duty is to keep you alive.”

Jensen stared back and his breath caught at the idea that Jared would do anything to make sure he continued on the journey. _Anything_. With a crooked smile, he asked, “Well, try to do it while keeping yourself alive, okay?”

“I’ll try,” Jared said with a small twitch of his mouth.

He patted the back of Jared’s hand, fighting the want to stay with Jared for as long as possible yet feeling the need to let him rest. “Are you going to the dinner tomorrow?”

“And miss your dedication?” Jared nearly smirked as his eyes drooped with his growing exhaustion. “I would never.”

Jensen watched the tension ease away from Jared’s face as he drifted off. He brushed a few strands of hair away to see Jared’s forehead, in comfort and to convince himself that Jared truly was healing. When he was satisfied with Jared’s rest, that the man really was okay, he rose and went back to his room.

\- - -

Danneel found him the next morning. “Jared’s been up and around already. Healthy as a stag.”

He couldn’t fight the smile and nod that said far more than words could. 

“You don’t know how happy we are,” she grinned. “I, especially, that he’s fine. You did a grand job in saving him.”

“He’d do the same for me,” he said, sweeping a nervous hand over his other arm.

Her head tipped to the side as she regarded him. “Yes, he would. That is his job.”

“Can I see him?”

“He’s back to rest already under doctor’s orders,” she said lightly but then directed Jensen towards the door. “There is someone else you may want to see.” 

He followed her down the hallway, nervously pulling at the edges of his shirt and worrying himself over meeting the Princess. 

Danneel smirked at his nerves and murmured, “It’s really two someones,” and motioned at the window that overlooked the back lawn. More importantly, it showed Harley and Sadie chasing one another across the long reach of grass. 

Jensen laughed at their jumps and playful pawing, and excitedly asked, “Can I?” 

She simply pointed at the nearby stairwell and he all but ran down the steps, at times skipping to the landings then turning quickly to rush down the next column. The second he was outside, Sadie spun in place, panted excitedly then hitched her back up high, and charged right at him. Jensen whimpered as he skipped out of her way, but she just ran circles around him, panting and galloping impatiently until he smiled and pressed hands through her fur. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Calm down, just calm on down,” he laughed.

At that, she plopped down next to him, rolling to her side and tucking her head down to watch him move close and playfully scrub across her belly. “You look good, girl. All beautiful and happy.” He slid closer and rubbed along her jaw then down her snout with her nodding into the touch. “You see Jared yet? Danneel says he’s fine. He’s good and fine thanks to you,” Jensen murmured as she snuffed against his hand. “Your crazy fast legs brought us here, huh? You’re such a good girl.”

The noise of Harley dropping down startled both Jensen and Sadie, but he quickly beamed at him. “Hey, boy! You’re looking good, too!” Jensen crowed, moving over to him, hands roaming across the minor bandages covering his ankle wounds, but seeming to not bother the steed in the slightest. Harley looked as clean and able as the first time they’d met.

Jensen spent much of the afternoon with the steeds, chasing them around, being followed with long runs across the lawn, anything to keep moving with them in the warm day. When he was finally worn out, he returned to his room to rest. 

Upon rising, he found yet another outfit set out for him. This one, however, was fit for royalty with its pearl sheen, high collar decorated with delicate royal blue stitching for each button, and navy thread etched into the chest for an emblem he’d seen throughout the palace. 

He stepped into the hallway to find Danneel outfitted in an elegant ball gown, sash from one shoulder to the opposing hip, and a careful thread of gold wound through her hair. She bowed gracefully, tucking the weight of her dress to one side as she said with grandeur, “Sir, you have been requested.”

With a long breath, he swept a hand down the front of the jacket then took her hand and walked in nervous silence to the main hall. It was there that his breathing all but stopped; the long stretch of red carpeting led to the far wall where two thrones sat, each taken by two people whom Jensen supposed were Princess Adrianne and Prince Jeffrey. Along the stretch of carpeting were many servants he’d seen throughout the last day of roaming the palace, as well as the addition of who he assumed were members of the royal family and other members of the government. 

They all bowed at once, except for the Prince and Princess, who remained seated and watched Jensen take in the spread of the long room. Danneel lightly touched his elbow and whispered, “Bow to your guests.”

“My guests?” he mumbled from the corner of his mouth.

“They’re here for you.”

At that moment, his stomach bottomed out and his legs all but liquefied as he slipped so quickly into a bow he feared falling. 

Her hand eased around his forearm and squeezed as she, too, bowed. “Try not to land on your face.”

“You’re not helping,” he grumbled back.

Danneel giggled lightly but stood grandly and led him down the walkway, giving slight nods to those she knew and smiles to all others. Jensen followed suit with a tight smile and short nod as everyone greeted him with a beaming grin and an enthusiastic shake of his hand. Nerve-wracking for sure, but he continued on and only felt it stack up into a thick coil of anxiety when they neared the thrones. Especially when Danneel once again bowed. He did as well, and she said, “Your majesties,” with great admiration in her voice. “I present the Fair Child.”

At that, she slipped away and stood to the side of Princess Adrianne’s throne, leaving him on display to the whole crowd. He slowly righted himself, hands fighting to find something to do, and he finally clasped them behind his back, fingers curling tight around each other. Prince Jeffrey stood and Jensen flinched back a step, but was soothed with the Prince’s warm smile while he reached for Jensen’s arm. “Son, it is _our honor_ to have you with us.”

Jensen took the hand, squeezing just as tightly as the Prince had, and even bowed to show his modesty at the situation. He was the Fair Child, but they were royalty, and he felt enough gravity in the moment that it was impossible to ease up. “Thank you. Sir,” he tacked on nervously. “Thank you very much.”

Prince Jeffrey chuckled, a deep sound that came as easily as his quick hug and pat to Jensen’s back. While holding Jensen close, he chuckled again then gently said, “All due respect, I do not need the honor of ‘sir.’ You are our guest tonight. I do hope you enjoy yourself this evening.”

His eyes slipped closed and he couldn’t ignore the warmth growing within. His family never granted him such attention, and the entire palace was literally on their knees for him, welcoming him with open arms. It was impossible to ignore the contrast to his life, and he was speechless until the Prince moved back and gave another friendly smile. 

“Thank you,” Jensen nodded back.

The Prince smiled and turned with a hand out for the Princess, who took it and rose from her throne to address Jensen. “Our Fair Child has finally arrived,” she chuckled lightly before holding Jensen’s face and bringing him in for a kiss on each cheek. “Am I to also understand that you saved your guide? You carried Jared for the finality of your journey to the palace?”

Jensen swallowed. “Yes, I did.”

Her mouth quirked through a tiny frown then into a soft smile. “Well, you certainly know how to live up to your honor, don’t you?”

“I’m sorry?”

She tipped her head and Jensen was taken with the gentle way she regarded him. “All along, you thought you were without fight? That you were incapable of fulfilling your mission? And yet you salvage Jared’s,” she said with a slow shake of her head. “You are truly more incredible than I had imagined.”

There was nothing he could say to that as he was entirely unsure of accepting what she was telling him. Yes, he saved Jared, but it was about Jared, not the mission. He understood the significance of getting to the palace in time, but there was something more to her words and tone that he couldn’t figure out. When she slipped back to her throne, his attention was drawn back to Prince Jeffrey standing before the hall, raising a hand to Jensen’s shoulder and turning him to face the rest of the hall. “This evening, we celebrate the Fair Child and his already proud heroics. But also his journey and determination to return Cassidonia to rightful power.”

The crowd hitched up into excited murmurs and nods, and Jensen couldn’t stop looking at them all, searching for Jared, and finding himself unable to continue through the celebration without the quiet strength Jared had provided for the last few days at his side. 

Prince Jeffrey said more, but Jensen was too trained on the faces to catch what the words were. The crowd then erupted into applause and the Prince patted Jensen’s back, tugging him close with an arm around his shoulders. 

Jensen looked to him with a tight smile but it eased with Prince Jeffrey’s broad grin. “Now we celebrate,” Jensen said a bit lamely. 

He laughed and playfully tugged Jensen in again. “That we do, son.”

Moving through the room, the crowd descended upon Jensen for the next few hours, all wanting to meet the Fair Child, to thank him for his efforts in keeping Jared alive, and to wish him well on the rest of his journey. He was quickly worn out, even when he still hadn’t tended to every guest. Finally, when he was close enough to Danneel to get her attention, he pulled her from her conversation with an apologetic smile. 

“Are we enjoying our celebration?” she asked with a playful smile.

His eyebrows shot up and he gave another tight smile, not wanting any of the guests to see him uneasy. “I’m great. But I’m also tired and hungry.”

“You should have said so.” Danneel grabbed his hand and led him through the crowd, murmuring, “We can’t have you undernourished at your own party. Jensen, you should know better.”

Her chiding matched her crooked smile, and he could easily pick up on her playfulness, but he still rolled his eyes and sighed. “Yes, well, I was a little focused on shaking every hand in the place. How many more hands do I have to shake?”

“You take care of Millicent and you’ll be shaking hands for the rest of your life.”

Jensen stilled, pausing just outside the kitchen as he felt all good intentions fall away. “What about going back?”

“Going back home?” she asked and he nodded. “Why would you want that? You’ll be honored and adored. You’ll have a place at the Red Castle with the Prince and Princess.”

“I have a life back there.”

“One where you were miserable working for your family?” she asked with a tiny bit of heat while soft eyes contradicted the moment. “Where you were never seen as more than just a secondary son?”

“No, it wasn’t like –”

“Where you had a love that you disregarded and ignored in favor of answering to your family. The same family who’ve disrespected you time and time again.”

Again, he defended, “I don’t _disregard_ him. It’s just –”

“It’s just that you want to be back home to fix things but you’re still here and ready to complete your mission,” Danneel cut him off with a smirk. “You haven’t had much thought on Alex lately, have you? Does that not sound like disregarding?” 

Jensen sobered and ground his teeth as he looked away. He went so far as to bite his tongue to keep from smarting back. 

Danneel held his face and all but scrutinized before her voice went soft. “Jensen, you have a place here in our world. Follow through with your journey and see where it leads you.” Their moment was broken by a crash of pots and pans in the kitchen, and she nudged the door open, instantly grinning. “Now, how am I not surprised to find _you_ in here?”

The second Jared’s voice rang out with carefree laughter, Jensen perked up and tried to see around her to catch a quick glance and see how he was doing. But Princess Adrianne was suddenly beside him, pulling on his arm with a small smile. “Jensen, you should come with me.”

He tried to peek into the kitchen, but Danneel was already inside with the door sweeping shut and dulling their laughter. The Princess tugged his arm once more with a small smile. 

“Yes, your highness,” he smiled.

She led him to the balcony overlooking the back lawn, where Harley and Sadie were lounging before a tangling spring, tapping paws at the surface to watch the water ebb and break up the moonlight spreading across the surface. 

He smirked at them but it didn’t last long; Princess Adrianne slid between him and the railing. “Jensen, you know this journey is very important. For all of Cassidonia, for me, for the Prince, for all our people.”

Jensen nodded with a solemn, “Yes, ma’am.”

Leaning against the railing, she continued to regard him, until he couldn’t ignore how long the silence dragged on. “It’s important for you, too. And it’s just as important for Jared.” 

At the name, Jensen’s heart stuttered, thrilled with Jared’s laughter in the kitchen and in knowing he was healthy and happy.

Her mouth twitched but then she frowned as she slowly shook her head. “Jensen, Jared’s journey is just as significant, if not more. He knows what his mission is and he’s taken to it quite seriously. He has made promises to the court for the honor to guide you.”

His throat worked, wanting so badly to ask further, but he feared sounding too eager. Or looking it, given how closely she was watching him. 

“You care about Jared?”

His voice scratched when he admitted to her and, for the first time, himself, “Yes. I do.”

The intensity of her stare lessened as she grabbed his hands. “He has promised himself to this palace, to the court. He and Danneel –”

“Adrianne!” Prince Jeffrey interrupted with a short laugh. “Are you interrogating Jensen? You should be more kind with our honorable guest.” 

Her mouth quirked when the Prince moved close and dropped a kiss at her cheek. “I was merely discussing his responsibility.”

Jensen looked between them, not missing the light touch of fingers as their hands dropped together. He bowed slightly then stepped back. “I should really head back in. Maybe get some food inside me and greet more guests.”

Prince Jeffrey patted his shoulder. “You make sure you enjoy yourself. The guests can wait until you return from the good fight.”

He rubbed behind his ear, trying to afford a chuckle but instead it came out as a nervous huff. “I will try, sir.”

Inside, he was finally able to eat, hot and cold items filling his belly along with champagne to make him just lightheaded enough to get through the rest of the evening. Every so often, he caught Jared’s head far above the rest of the crowd, but whenever he managed to escape one conversation in the hopes of finding Jared, another started as more guests stopped to congratulate, wish luck, and express their gratitude. 

He nodded more times than his neck could stand, and it eventually ached from so much use before numbing right over. The skin of his hand dried out long before he was done shaking hands, and his mind swam with so many names and voices that he couldn’t manage anything more than escaping to the balcony again. 

There, he found Danneel and Jared close, whispering and giggling as he tugged an arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. Jensen’s fists clenched before he could realize it, and he fought to relax when they smiled and called him over. 

Danneel swiped a hand over the breast of Jensen’s jacket. “Did I mention how handsome you are this evening? Has everyone else?” she asked on a sweet twist of her mouth as he chuckled and turned his head away in slight embarrassment. “Have you been enjoying yourself?”

He smiled down to her then up to Jared and nodded, unable to speak; Jared was right there, healthy and wrapped gracefully in a royal blue suit, much like Jensen’s, and looking far beyond handsome. The stretch of fabric across his chest and shoulders amplified the broad, long lines of the man, drew more attention to his kind face, and even more to the strokes of red at his temple, healed considerably since Jensen last saw him, but there all the same. 

“You okay?” Jensen asked him. 

“I am good,” he smiled in return, even while his gaze followed Danneel heading back inside. 

Jensen turned to watch her leave as well, and then he was surprised by Jared moving in with a broader smile and enveloping him whole. The arms were tight around him, as were the press of chests and the tug of hands into Jensen’s back. 

“Haven’t had a chance to say hi to the guest of honor,” Jared said at his ear.

Slowly, Jensen’s hands came up, gathering fabric in his palms as he hugged Jared back. He tried to ignore the slide of his face into Jared’s shoulder. Or how Jared’s head rested right into his as well. “I’ve been a little busy. And you’ve been avoiding me.”

Jared chuckled into the curve of Jensen’s neck and then pulled back, hands sliding over Jensen’s shoulders. “Look at you,” he grinned.

Jensen’s eyebrow flicked up, as did the corner of his mouth as he returned, “What about you?”

Jared pushed a hand over his own shoulder, looking down on the jacket. “What? This old thing?”

He laughed, truly smiling. “God, you look good,” tumbled from his mouth before he could stop. Though he did amend his blabbering with a small chuckle and pat at Jared’s side. “Healthy and up and around. I was a little worried about you.”

Jared slowly frowned even while his look was long and warm. “I was a little worried about me, too.” Jensen nodded and looked away. Jared lightly squeezed Jensen’s elbow as he said, “Which made me worried for you. To go through with this without me there beside you.”

“Well, good thing we don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Jensen said with a light smile. “You’re here now.” Jared’s hand settled at the bend of Jensen’s neck, fingers squeezing over his shoulder. Trying to ignore the warmth spilling from Jared, coursing over his skin, Jensen lamely muttered, “The Princess told me you’re promised to the palace when you’re done? What is it that you’re promised for?”

The eyes glazed over, dropping from Jensen and focusing on the emblem of his jacket. “My life. I’ve promised to give my life to Cassidonia, to its future.” Then he looked up, softening when he found Jensen’s eyes again. “To protect you.”

He cleared his throat and nodded. “That’s a big promise.”

Jared leaned against the railing and faintly smiled at Harley and Sadie resting on the lawn. “Danneel and I promised ourselves to the court. We grew up together in the fields, and when I’d come to fulfill my destiny, she came with. You probably think it’s crazy,” he rambled and then he bit into his lip before continuing. “Crazy to just give ourselves over. But to have meaning to this life …”

Jensen turned away, fighting the want to watch Jared; he absolutely wanted to continue listening to him but the words cut deeper than he was sure Jared had meant. Jensen thought about his own life: unhappy, fumbling, always striving to please his family but always told it wasn’t enough. Jared had given himself over for the journey with unquestionable loyalty; he had purpose to his life and was content with his role.

“Jensen,” he said lightly as he moved close with a hand along his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

There was so much in his mind, so many words fighting to come out and just as many muscles struggling to keep it all in. But he couldn’t not say something, not when Jared was there and open and looking at him like he hung the sun and the moon and all the stars. “You talk about your honor and all you have to do. The pride of it all. And what do I do?”

“You’re the Fair Child.” Jared gripped Jensen’s shoulders with both hands then eased up to smooth over them. “You have much to do.”

“In my life, my other life, I don’t have anything good to speak of.”

“What about your family? Or Alex?”

Jensen winced and stalled, knowing his reflexive response but not wanting to say it. He finally said, rather pathetically, “Alex is there, waiting for me to make everything better. And I’m here.”

“You’re here to make everything better for Cassidonia,” he said with a slow, sweet smile. “He’ll be proud of that.”

Jensen stared for long moments, not knowing what he should be doing or saying. Jared’s hands squeezed at his arms, holding and keeping him upright, even when he wanted to sink to the ground and bemoan all that awaited him back home. 

Jared stood tall and shook his head. “Never mind. We’re here to celebrate. To honor you before the great mission. We shouldn’t be speaking like this.”

Numbly, he nodded and allowed Jared to lead him back into the palace. They continued on with the celebration, Jensen sharing even more handshakes and well wishes, and Jared roaming the hall and greeting those he knew. Jensen couldn’t help but watch Jared, even while he was consumed with other conversations. He couldn’t ignore the draw of Jared’s smile, or his laughter, or the nagging feelings of wanting to be on the receiving end of it all.

\- - -

Jensen rose to darkness still covering the sky, dotted with tiny stars. Voices in the hallway drew him out, and when he stepped through the doorway, he found Jared slipping from Danneel’s room down the hall, quickly shutting the door. His face was pulled down, as were his shoulders, and when he turned towards Jensen, he stalled. “Hi.”

He tried to smile, happy to see Jared but troubled with his appearance at Danneel’s room in the middle of the night. It only served as a reminder of Jared and Danneel’s promise to the court. “I couldn’t sleep,” Jensen mumbled.

Jared stepped closer. “Me neither.”

“How’s Danneel?”

He looked to her door then walked down the hallway with a short nod and Jensen fell into step with him. “She’s tired. Worried. Anxious. All understandable things. Many in the palace fear for the fight.”

“I wouldn’t doubt that in the least.”

“Even though it’s written?” At Jensen’s awkward glance, he explained, “Just as law, the journey is already written for us. It’s our destiny.”

“If it’s destiny, why are they worried?”

With a hand at Jensen’s back, Jared led them down the hall to his own room and gave a wry smile as he followed Jensen inside. “There are tiny matters within the story to question. But the main parts are truth. You succeed.”

Jensen laughed nervously. “You know, you could’ve told me that sooner. It would’ve made this all feel a lot easier.”

Jared chuckled with him then dropped to his bed with a sigh. “A lot of things could be easier, but they aren’t.”

Looking down at Jared, Jensen couldn’t help but ache to say all that he really felt. The fear he held through the shadowhog attack, in bringing Jared to the palace, in waiting for his recovery. All things that made him want to know Jared beyond this mission, to be right alongside him for as long as their destiny would allow. Before he could stop himself, he reached out and combed through Jared’s hair, and then his heart stuttered when Jared’s head slid against his hand and Jared’s eyes closed. 

“Jensen,” he murmured as a warning. 

Jensen shuffled closer, standing between Jared’s knees. “Is this not written?” Jared’s eyes remained shut as he shook his head, but he still moved into the touch. “I was scared when you were hurt,” Jensen admitted with a soft hand at the back of Jared’s head. “More than anything.”

Jared looked up, eyes clear and intent on Jensen’s face as he watched him silently work through everything else to be said. But the words shut themselves inside. 

Jensen edged himself closer, still softly holding Jared’s neck while Jared’s hands skated up Jensen’s legs to settle behind his knees. His head rested against Jensen’s stomach as he whispered, “Jensen, There are things you don’t know. Things you couldn’t understand about me.” 

His mouth dried up as he tried to work the questions out. “You’re promised to Danneel.”

He tipped his head back. “It’s not like that.” 

“What’s it like?” 

Jared didn’t reply, and after a few quiet seconds, he asked, “What about your partner?”

Jensen hadn’t the slightest clue of what to say. Suddenly, not returning to his life, staying in Cassidonia, seemed like the most logical thing he could do. He leaned down, lips brushing over Jared’s, praying and waiting for a response. It came moments later with Jared opening his mouth and smoothing hands further up Jensen’s legs.

Through the uneven kissing, through Jared’s touches and Jensen’s hands moving over Jared’s hair, Jared again asked, “But what about –”

“He’s not you.” 

Jared’s mouth stilled then his hands slipped higher, gripping Jensen’s thighs as he whispered his name on a soft plea. 

Jensen nudged forward, guiding Jared to his back and moving over him on the bed. “He’s not,” Jensen murmured back. “You’re … you. You’re, like, this perfect person. Like a breath of fresh air.” Then Jensen swept a hand across Jared’s cheek, over his ear, and to the back of his head before sliding back in to kiss, feeling more in that movement than any one thing he’d done in a lifetime. 

Their fingers fumbled together, slipping on buttons, pulling shirts away, and gracing smooth skin. Jensen slowed at the sight of Jared’s chest, so strong and broad but now marred with scars from the shadowhog attack. Jensen’s fingertip traced each mark, even while Jared reassured, “I’m okay.”

He found Jared’s eyes and sunk down to him, skin on skin, mouth to mouth, tongues tangling as they moved together. And every bit of tension and fear over his real duty in their world dissipated and made room for the warmth and thrill of being with Jared, being with him like this.

**FOUR ******

****** **

Jensen stirred to daylight then the shift of the mattress and a drop of lips to his shoulder. He smiled before he turned over and found Jared’s mouth once again, cupping his face then threading fingers through his hair.

Jared smiled against him then lightly chuckled. “We should probably move for the day.”

“No,” Jensen said with a shake of his head, kissing more, unrelenting with the hold around Jared’s neck. He felt the pulse of Jared’s laugh on his tongue and couldn’t let go. 

“Don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. I can’t hunt on a full stomach.”

He looked at Jared, searching for any hesitation. Soon enough, a tiny smile crept up on them both, but Jensen’s stalled as his mind wrapped itself around Jared’s words. “I really have to do this?”

“Yes, you do,” Jared said with a smirk.

“And we win?”

He chuckled before sobering and simply nodding his head. “Yes, we do.”

Jensen was prepared to continue their moment, to kiss and taste more of Jared, to lie beside him for as long as possible. But then his stomach growled, and Jared laughed, falling into Jensen’s neck with a grin.

\- - -

They spilled into the kitchen, each with a tiny smile and sharing random glances as they sat and worked through breakfast. But they both froze when Danneel entered with a tight smile. “There you are,” she admonished Jensen. “I had stopped at your room to escort you to breakfast.”

He chanced a quick glance between Danneel, Jared, and even the kitchen staff before looking down on his food, pushing it around with his fork. “Found it myself,” he tried to say casually, but he knew it sounded off. He couldn’t ignore the tension in the room and immediately assigned it to Danneel keeping an eye on he and Jared.

“I see.” She sat across from them and accepted a plate from one of the servers. They all fell quiet, eating and avoiding the topic circling them all. “You slept well last night?” she asked quietly. “This is a big day for you both, you know ...”

Jared handed his empty plate to one of the staff then moved to Danneel. As he draped arms around her shoulders, he dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “I know, Danneel. We both do.” Her hand found his wrist, holding tight while she stared at the table and Jared spoke at her hair. “It will be okay.”

Danneel’s head rose, eyes intent with Jensen’s. “Be safe, yes?”

Jensen stared right back, feeling her words bury themselves into his nerves, to remind him that they were set for war. Even with Jared sure that they would succeed, Jensen struggled with his own confidence. But he still worked a smile and nodded with Jared.

From that point until they left the palace, Jensen had little time to focus on Jared or Danneel or anything else from the evening before. He was taken to room after room to be outfitted in armor, equipped with weaponry, and instructed on all of Vile Millicent’s assaults. It all smashed together in his brain, flying by so quickly that next he knew, he was joining Jared outside the Palace to head out for battle. Jensen neared the steeds as Jared got into place on Harley’s back, stroking the head with murmured encouragement. 

Sadie bowed then hitched Jensen up with a quick paw for support. His fingers curled into her mane and he sought out Jared’s reassuring smile, one that warmed his stomach and eased him long enough that he could breathe before Jared tugged on Harley and directed the steeds off the palace grounds and into a quick pace across the countryside.

They rode in silence, taking hours to follow their course with darkness creeping up behind. There was just enough light from the setting sun to see the horizon before them, burnt columns rising until the entirety of the Red Castle came into view. Jensen tightened his hold on Sadie, but didn’t dare slow her while Jared pushed Harley on. 

Soon enough, they were before the castle gates, red-armored guards charging forward. Jensen’s mind froze on the color. _Blood_ , he marveled, wondering how many battles had occurred before that very day. How many times these men fought and dressed the steps in death. 

Before a word could be said, the doors swung open and more soldiers moved forward with a woman stepping between the lines. Once her eyes fell upon Jensen, she halted and released a quick breath and sharp smile in Jared’s direction. “Why, you have done it, haven’t you?” she spat. “The Fair Child in the flesh.”

Jensen stared at her while his mind ran off with every interaction he’d ever had at work, and then he all-but gasped in horror. “You!”

Jared’s attention flipped between the Queen and Jensen as she answered, “Why yes ... Had you not been prepared to meet your honorable queen?”

He swallowed hard, eyes fierce on her as he recalled the last moments in his office, facing Katie Cassidy and wanting to wring her neck. He found the same fury flaring up as he regarded the Queen, who was a spitting image with her long frame and flowing blond hair.

A sudden roar from behind upset the steeds, forcing them to kick back to their hind legs and nearly buck Jared and Jensen both. “Whoa! Hey, boy,” Jared instantly comforted while petting Harley. Jensen and Jared each tightened their hold on the steeds as they spun to face the noise. That’s when they saw her; Vile Millicent stood beyond the gates, snuffling and scraping paws into the ground, unearthing chunks of grass as she moved closer to the crowd. The charges rushed back into the castle and shoved the doors closed, leaving Jared and Jensen alone with Millicent. 

Jensen looked through the gates at the Queen. Her broad, proud smile turned nasty when her eyes caught his. “God, I hate her,” he grunted.

Jared chuckled, “You hardly know her.”

“You would think.”

On the rush of a long breath, Jensen turned back to Millicent and took in the wide, dark eyes of the monster. Its dark, sweaty, leathery skin stretching with every movement made him wince, but it couldn’t compare to the fear filling his bones when it stood at attention, legs extending and chest heaving. 

Jared and Jensen each tipped their heads back to take in her full height. Millicent’s wide shadow covered them and Jensen gulped as they drew their swords. “Game plan?” Jensen murmured.

Jared couldn’t take his eyes from the monster’s size. “We probably should have come up with one.” 

Jensen glared at him. “You don’t have a plan?”

“No, I didn’t draft us a thorough legend for when and where to strike,” he said in quite the same tone. “Sorry, Jensen. I was a little busy falling for you.”

Jensen and Jared stared at one another, doing little more than breathing and watching. Jensen wanted to smile at Jared’s warm eyes and good intentions, to be wrapped up in his kind nature; anything would be better than the current predicament. “Alright, good answer,” Jensen mumbled as he turned back to Millicent snorting clouds of smoke from her wide snout. He swallowed then suggested, “Perhaps next time we can focus on a plan of attack before anything else.”

“Cute. You think there’s a next time.”

Millicent stomped, shaking the earth and eliciting whimpers from both steeds as they scampered back a good ten feet. Jensen, again, couldn’t take his eyes off Millicent, and all the while, he tried to soothe Sadie, petting and murmuring a calm, “Hey, sweetheart, it’s alright. Stay with me, okay?”

Jared rambled off, “I’m going to draw her away and you get after her and strike as much as possible,” just before he sped away and Millicent followed him. 

“What? No!” Jensen cried, and a second later he had Sadie chasing Harley. 

The tumbling of Millicent’s steps shook the ground, scaring the steeds as they skittered away only to rush right back on their path, Harley intent on distracting Millicent and Sadie trying to keep up. Jared tucked his sword into his lap and leaned forward and Sadie rushed on with Millicent chasing behind. Sadie broke off to the left to flank Millicent, and with Harley on the right, they disoriented the monster enough that she couldn’t decide which steed to attack. 

Swinging low and hard, Millicent set out to strike Jensen. He tucked himself closer to Sadie, avoiding each attach. He led Sadie away only to charge right back in, and each time Millicent reached for him, Sadie again sped away. Millicent swung and swiped across his back, forcing him to slide from his perch and squeeze a firm hand around his sword. His other hand Sadie’s mane to he could pull himself back up. 

Harley instantly bounded into Millicent’s legs, knocking her off balance long enough that Jensen collected himself and circled the monster. Harley and Jared continued to tease Millicent, moving close enough to distract but not enough for her to grab. 

“What’re you doing?” Jared shouted as he and Harley continued their dance, keeping Millicent’s attention. 

“What?” Jensen yelled back.

“Do _something_!”

Jensen took a sharp breath, rose off Sadie’s back, and led her closer to Millicent. He flipped the sword a few times before gripping tight, and when near enough, he sliced across Millicent’s calf. She roared and flinched then swung around and knocked Jensen right off his steed. He slid across the ground then rolled to his knees, popping up and running right back to Sadie. “Great idea!” he yelled to Jared and climbed up Sadie. “You got any others?”

Jared struck Millicent in the other calf and moved out of range just in time. He smirked and continued to skip away and back in. “Just keep going!”

From there, Jared and Jensen slipped in and out of Millicent’s reach, jabbing at her legs when possible but not always landing hard or deep enough to injure her. Angered, she continued to swing at each of them until Jared struck her with a well-aimed blow behind the knee, and she roared in pain. But when she spun and growled down on him, mucus and spit creasing her mouth and dripping down around him, he grimaced and pulled Harley back. Millicent howled as she chased after them. 

“Jensen!” Jared shouted.

Jensen spun with Sadie and rushed in to attack. He sliced into calf, her thigh, her knee. Millicent turned and smacked Jensen off Sadie before running after Jared. Sadie raced back to Jensen and by the time he was back in place, Jared and Harley was dashing across the lawn then up a steep hill that crept up and into a small mountain. Harley struggled with the sharp climb but Millicent easily scaled it, keeping up with the steed as he continued to scramble up the mountain and Jared jabbed at Millicent’s insistent hand. 

Sadie ran after them as Jared continued to attack the monster’s fat hands, sometimes reaching high enough to cut her arms. She stumbled up the hill with reckless, hurried moves, and finally reached the top, yapping, batting, and biting at Millicent’s knees. When Millicent snatched Jared up in her hand, the steeds became further angered and attacked her feet. 

In the rush, Jensen was knocked from Sadie’s back. He scrambled to his feet, picking up his sword and running up the side of the peak. 

Millicent shook Jared like a rag doll and tossed him to the ground. He landed misaligned against the rocks, slowly turning over to get back up. 

Jensen stared with horror, but before he could properly respond, she unearthed a nearby tree and swung at Jensen, wiping him off his feet. When he rolled and righted himself, she swung at Jared as he stumbled up to his knees. The blow to his torso knocked him right back down. 

Jensen froze the second he saw the injury; Jared’s armor was wrecked, dented in and out, split where the sharp branches had pierced the metal. Jared slowly reached through the broken chestplate and withdrew bloodied fingers as he struggled to stand, staggered, then tripped back to the ground, wobbly legs unable to keep him up. 

Jensen shouted for him, unable to manage more than fear and a surge of adrenaline. He ran to Jared, narrowly avoiding more of Millicent’s swings. Just as Jensen dropped next to him, Jared’s eyes slipped closed and his head lolled to the side. He grabbed Jared’s face, shouted his name, all to no response. Jensen spun, fire in his eyes, more in his belly, and as Millicent swung with the trunk, he sidestepped her then picked his sword up and jabbed the back of her hand with all the power he could manage. 

She wailed and shook her hand, releasing the tree trunk to look at the wound and slow dribble of blood. He took that distraction to climb the rocks, pulling himself up to the top and looking down on her. His nostrils flared and his heart hammered in his chest, but he couldn’t think of more than Jared on the ground, still not moving. 

He leapt onto Millicent’s back, hanging with a tight arm wound in her leash as he stabbed her back, slicing flesh over and over. Through her thrashing, he stuck her and pulled himself up only to stab again and use enough leverage to climb her back, faster and higher until he could reach her shoulder and stand. Recalling so many of the things he’d heard and experienced at the palace, talk of Millicent’s power and speed, his time with Jared, and his duty in finishing this fight, he drummed up the strength to yank on her ear and thrust his sword into her neck. Two, three, four more hard, swift drives, and she arched away, blood spilling down her throat, streaking her body before pooling between her toes.

As her knees buckled, Jensen shifted on her shoulder, keeping himself upright as she crashed. He jumped then rolled away before she spun over herself and careened down the side of the hill, coming to a slow stop quite a ways from the bottom. She flinched and snorted, chest rising then falling before her entire body collapsed. 

Noise erupted from the castle as the charges, servants, and other guests came to the realization that Millicent was dead. And so was the Queen’s reign. 

Cheers overpowered the contemptuous shouts of the Queen’s army. Those confined under her rule charged forward, overtook the Queen’s most loyal servants, and shoved the Queen and her charges from the Castle steps and out the gates. 

Jensen wiped a hand down his face, reeling at the sight of the felled monster and knowing he’d done it; he’d fulfilled his destiny. He’d slain the monster and succeeded. 

Then, Jared and everything else crashed down on him. He spun around and found Jared motionless with Sadie and Harley groaning and swaying close then away from him. Jensen scrambled over the rocks, skidding to his knees next to Jared, and the steeds continued to whine as Sadie sniffed and nudged at Jared’s legs and Harley ducked, cowering in guilt.

He unbuckled the crumpled breastplate and slowly pulled it free, whimpering at the red soak of Jared’s clothes. His fingers slipped between the ragged holes and his hand couldn’t touch anything that wasn’t wet with blood. Tears filled his eyes with the knowledge that the wounds from the shadowhogs had torn open and fresh gashes ripped Jared’s chest even wider. Jensen murmured prayers to the sky as he swept in, cradling Jared’s head, hands sliding over his hair, and rocking him. 

Sadie dipped in, nosing at Jared’s face, and Jensen moved, pulling Jared with him. “Okay, girl, we’re doing this again. Faster than before!” he shouted when she wasn’t rising with him. “Come on! We’re going back to the palace!” 

Cowering further away, she dipped her head and avoided his sharp look.

“Come on! Now!”

Sadie whined and spun away, ducking her head just as Harley rose and stepped closer. He bowed for Jensen to position Jared up and on his back with Jensen climbing behind. Sadie snuffled and Jensen looked down on her, feeling nothing but the same heartbreak in her eyes. She’d carried a wounded Jared just days ago and couldn’t do it again; holding Jared, beat up and bloodied, was doubly hard this time for Jensen, too.

Through the ride back to the White Palace, Jensen was dazed, hours spreading on like days as he thought over his time with Jared, from the first moment up through defeating Millicent. He thought of how all of Cassidonia would rejoice and how the Prince and Princess would earn their rightful rule. 

But then he thought of Jared, sinking in his arms and non-responsive to any movement. Jensen was realistic right then; there was no way Jared could be healed, but a tiny corner of his heart prayed and hoped and deemed it possible. If Jared could be healed after the shadowhogs’ attack, then this could be done, too.

His hope willowed away as they approached the palace and the charges and officers moved around him with no rush to aid Jared. Jensen sunk to the stone walkway with Jared against him, pleading for help. Charges came forward, pulling Jared away with the barest of looks to Jensen, maintaining their stoic demeanor. 

The Prince and Princess appeared in the doorway, watching Danneel rush through the crowd, tears already streaking her cheeks. She held Jared’s face and kissed his hair just before the servants took him away. She reached for Jensen’s shoulder, but barely touched as he whispered, “You have to help him. You can do something, right?”

Danneel blinked the tears away before turning to follow the crowd back inside. 

His own tears clouded his vision, but he saw Princess Adrianne approach him. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, struggling to contain his emotion.

She hugged him, arms tight around his waist, and kissed his cheek. When she moved back, she touched his face and smiled, warm and sweet. “You’ve succeeded.”

“But Jared –”

“Danneel will see over him.” After Jensen’s rough swallow and short nod, she smiled wider and breathed deep. Her shoulders rose with the movement and she suddenly seemed taller, grander, more poised. She caressed his cheek and whispered, “The Fair Child shall salvage the kingdom and bring justice down on the vile.”

“But we didn’t –”

“ _You_ did. You took down the Red Castle. You have released the needy from their charge and opened the sky.” 

At that, Jensen looked up and around, suddenly aware of the sun rising in the far sky and surpassing the coming evening. It shone brighter and wider than he’d ever seen while in Cassidonia, and he and the Princess both shielded their eyes at the beauty of it. 

“Twelve hours of day," she said with wonder. "Twelve hours of night.”

Prince Jeffrey stepped closer with a hand sliding over the Princess’s shoulder. “It’ll be good to have our days back.” He graced Jensen with an easy smile then grabbed hold of his neck with a light shake. “You’ve done it, son. Smile a little.”

In truth, Jensen attempted to do just that but everything else in his heart sunk. “He’ll be okay, right? They saved him last time. They can do it again.”

The Prince and Princess both reached for an arm and led him back inside with the Princess insisting, “You rest now, and we will check on Jared when you’re ready.”

\- - -

Once he’d washed up, changed, and settled into the bed, exhaustion took over and he was asleep in moments. So hard a sleep that when he did finally wake up, it was an honest evening with a pale moon in the corner of the sky. A moon he kept looking for in every window he passed through the hallways, and again as he stepped out on the balcony off the ballroom, the place where he’d stood with Jared and had come to realize the weight of the man in his life.

After some time alone, Princess Adrianne joined him, motioning to a nerby bench and sat beside him. With her assistant just a few feet away, Jensen steeled himself, not wanting to release his emotions in company. 

The Princess held his hand, turning it over and placing a chain inside. When he held it up, a single letter _J_ hung from the silver link. She spoke while his fingers slid over the cool metal. “I’m certain he would want you to have it. That _you_ would want to have it.”

He didn’t look up. After a few shallow breaths, he swallowed down his feelings and managed to levelly say, “They couldn’t help him.”

Her hand closed over his, tucking the charm between their palms. “I am sorry, Jensen. I truly am.”

“He just …” Jensen began but the words broke emotionally and he took a few moments to redirect his thought, to gather himself before looking at her. “I thought it was written? That we succeeded?”

She bit into her lip. “ _You_ succeeded. That is the written word.” 

He worked his mouth, but couldn’t get the right thoughts in order. He was saved from trying to argue when Princess Adrianne ushered her assistant over and took a book from the young woman’s hands. The leather-bound, thick volume creaked as she opened it, turning coarse pages over until she could point at a specific passage. 

Jensen’s eyes ran the lines as she read aloud, “As the Fair Child thrives, his valiant lead shall give himself to this battle.”

He found her eyes, and questions and accusations swam in his brain, demanding explanation for willingly sending someone to die, to send _Jared_ to his death. “He knew, didn’t he?” he all-but whimpered.

Princess Adrianne stroked his cheek with a soft smile. “He promised himself to the court, to Cassidonia. It was part of his honor.”

“I thought he promised himself to Danneel,” he confessed quietly, rising and walking to the edge of the balcony, one hand clutching the necklace and the other tight around the railing. 

She rose and smiled sadly. “He’s done the palace a fine service. He will be revered for centuries to come. There is great respect in his sacrifice.”

Jensen turned enough to watch her move beside him. It was impossible to ignore how much meaning flowed with her words, and he realized how right she was. While anger warred with grief, he recognized admiration building with the knowledge that Jared followed a path that others would have easily questioned and denied, and he did it with great pride.

\- - -

Instead of returning to his room, Jensen stopped at Danneel’s, knocking lightly and opening the door to find her resting on the bed, pillow tucked to her chest. She shifted immediately, righting her dress and wiping moisture from her cheeks. “I’m sorry. Did you need something?” she asked with so much of her usual grace it surprised him.

“Maybe a little company?” he suggested with a small, sad smile.

Biting into her bottom lip, she slowly nodded and watched him rest next to her on the bed. They shared a long, miserable look until she slid over and rested at his chest and held him just as he held her. They were quiet for much of the time, but he was comforted in having the moment with someone who felt much the same as he did. 

Jensen moved his mouth to her hair. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” she mumbled, burrowing her head closer to him.

“It was for me. He did it for me.”

Danneel slipped closer, tighter, and shook her head. “He did it for all of us. For Cassidonia.”

His hand swept over her shoulder and down her back. Then he tipped his head back down to hers. “Is it all worth it?”

She breathed deep then tapped careful fingers over his chest. “He was my best friend and I’ve loved him as my own brother for all my life. Living without him will be with great pain. But I cannot imagine Cassidonia surviving much longer.” Jensen remained silent and she sniffled through a chuckle. “That means yes. Yes, it was all worth it.”

\- - -

Jensen woke in a fog, unsure of where he was. It’d happened far too many times since arriving in Cassidonia, and he wondered when his body would settle enough to allow him a normal morning. It was then that a distinct click was followed by a piercing sound, repeatedly jarring itself in his ears. He shot up with the alarm clock echoing through his bedroom, his bedroom back home.

“Dream,” he muttered, “Just a dream,” as his heart raced and blood pounded in his ears at the memory. His hand swept over his bare chest to steady his breathing, but his thumb dragged on the silver chain and shiny _J_ hanging from his neck. As his hand closed around the charm, he dropped his legs over the side of the bed, felt deep muscle aches, and discovered bruises equal to the battering from the war with Millicent. He stood with a curse and grabbed his phone. It was Friday, half past seven in the morning. 

A glance out his window showed the street full of life below with commuters and pedestrians making their way to work. In a daze from all that he knew of the last few days, he readied himself as if it were any other morning, even when his mind told him different. Everything had changed.

That morning served so differently than any he’d experienced before. He successfully sidestepped any rogue walkers and avoided puddles and the whitewash of passing cars unknowingly soaking pedestrians too close to the curb. 

He did slow down as he passed the coffee shop, the same one he’d first met Danneel at, but his phone rang with his brother’s call. “I’m on my way,” Jensen said by way of greeting.

“So you do still want your job?” Josh bit out. “Was wondering when you were going to show yourself again.”

“I’ve been … under the weather,” he managed. “I’ll explain when I get in.”

“Meet in the conference room. I’m sure Dad would like to hear this.”

Jensen shoved the phone into his pocket as he continued on to the office. It was a harrowing walk to finish, as was the silent elevator ride and his walk down the hallway and into the conference room. His father and brother were already seated at one end of the long table, busy with their own discussion. 

Upon his entrance, they both spun and watched him. Jensen swallowed and slid a hand down his tie when no one spoke. “My apologies for the last few days,” he finally said. “I was sick and my phone wasn’t working.”

“Convenient,” Josh muttered.

Alan stood and pointed at a chair. “Jensen, why don’t you sit with us?”

The hard edge to the words, not to mention the way in which Alan suddenly wouldn’t look at him, gnawed at Jensen, and he knew the situation. He’d seen his father make this exact move all too many times that Jensen couldn’t ignore the signs of a great dressing down. “If it’s all the same I’d rather remain right here,” Jensen said with great control. 

The sharp look from both his brother and father alarmed him for just a brief moment before he felt a distinct tug in his spine, drawing him to stand tall with confidence. 

Alan bristled. “We have all too many questions, Jensen. Last we spoke, I asked you about your dedication and you assured me you were here, with us.”

Before more could be said, Jensen raised a hand with a short wave. “Alright. I’m here. I wasn’t for a few days. Things came up. But I’m back, and it’s fine.”

“It’s _fine_?” Josh asked on a chuckle. “You disappear for half a week and now it’s _fine_?”

Jensen struggled to not roll his eyes and instead moved towards the door with an easy, “I’ll be in my office.” 

He walked swiftly to his space, ignoring the odd glances from everyone he passed, even those who rose from cubicles to watch the doom he felt creeping along. He stopped at his doorway to the sight of Katie Cassidy in his chair and her ankles crossed on top of the desk.

“How’m I not surprised you’re squatting in my office?” he snorted.

“Is that what they now call mentally redecorating?” she asked on a sharp smile. Her hands stretched before her, framing much of the wall to her left. “Think I’ll put my Raphael right here.”

“You would,” he muttered upon entering and trying in earnest to ignore her presence. He pushed papers across his desk, reorganizing piles without any real direction.

“So, while you were gone,” Katie started, sounding bored as she appraised her manicure. “I was able to squeeze in 80 hours for Kripke Enterprises.” 

He barely flinched, even when he so wanted to.

Her voice rose with more interest. “Closest I could get without selling the whole damn farm, but he seemed pretty happy about it. Know who else was happy about it?”

“I don’t know, your father? The devil?”

Katie’s face curled into a mocking smile before settling into one of grand pleasure. “Josh was. Your father, too. It’s a wonder how much money they’ll throw at a person when they actually do their job. It’s like no one has any honor in good, hard work anymore.”

Jared flashed in his mind as the word ‘honor’ dug into his chest. He spun around the desk and grabbed hold of the chair. With his hands landing firmly on the arms of the furniture, her feet noisily hit the ground and her eyes widened with how close he moved in. 

“Funny thing happened while I was gone, Katie. I realized I don’t care. And for all you want to chase me down and shove me into your shadow? I couldn’t care less. So have at it,” he spit out then shoved the chair away. 

Sighing, he righted his tie and jacket, buttoned it closed, and strode down the hallway. It took just a few seconds to prop the conference room door open and find his father and brother still there, though now accompanied by other clients. They all turned to him, and while Josh and Alan cautiously smiled, Josh’s voice smoothed out for business. “Jensen, what can we do for you?”

His hand was tight at the door frame but his smile was all ease. “Just wanted to let you know I quit,” and then he moved on to the lobby, ignoring the mutterings of his father, brother, and so many other co-workers who had overheard. 

Pride and exhilaration drove him to clear his office of the few personal items he’d put up and out over the years, then he packed them all in his laptop case. With a grin, he unlocked the machine from its docking station and figured that of all things owed to him over the years for readily accepting humiliation and degradation, a computer was a start. 

The wind wiped over him as he walked outside, pinking his cheeks with a slight chill, but he barely felt it with freedom carrying him home. He was free of the family business, and not even the lack of a plan could break his spirit in that moment because at least he’d taken a step in the right direction.

When he got to his apartment, the front door was open and his stomach flipped at the sight of Alex moving through the bedroom to pile things into a bag already half full of personal items he’d kept there or left behind over the course of their relationship. Jensen leaned on the doorway, fingers flipping his keys around the ring. “Hey,” he said gently.

Alex was a vision of comfort in a soft sweater, khakis, and his dark-framed glasses, ones Jensen knew he barely wore through a workday though almost always used on weekends. But Jensen saw beyond the simplicity to the outfit; Alex’s eyes were drawn down, refusing to meet Jensen’s, and then he busied himself with packing more into the bag. 

“I didn’t think you’d be home,” Alex said with an awkward tone. “I figured this would be easier while you were at work.”

Jensen bit at his lip and nodded, unable to come up with the right response. Three days ago, he’d been begging for Alex’s understanding, for his patience. But the whirlwind of another world was far too big in his mind, and trying to work a failed relationship was just as low on his list of priorities as working for his father was. 

“I’m sorry about last night,” Jensen said with meaning, because while he wasn’t sorry for missing that obligation, he was sorry for whatever bother and pain he’d caused Alex. “I had other –”

“Stuff to do,” Alex finished in a tired voice. “I know that one by heart.” When Jensen didn’t defend himself, Alex shifted and took his time to look Jensen over. “You … you seem different.”

Jensen loosened the knot of his tie and sighed. “I quit.”

One eyebrow rose high and his mouth all but dropped to the floor. “You quit?”

“Figured it was about time.”

“You have another job?”

Jensen palmed a pair of cuff links on the dresser, ones he’d bought for Alex on their year anniversary, ones that hadn’t left the apartment since the last time he’d spent the night. As he handed them over, he uneasily smiled. “No, but I’ll figure it out.” Alex took a few moments to look from Jensen down to the cuff links in his hand. “I really am sorry. I never meant to hurt you,” Jensen murmured with a soft touch at Alex’s shoulder. 

His mouth worked and Jensen imagined all the complaints building inside Alex’s mind, but they never came. He simply pocketed the links and nodded before silently getting back to his packing. 

When Alex finished, he found Jensen in the kitchen nursing a beer and staring off to the far side of the room. They shared well wishes, silently acknowledging that it was likely best they moved on, neither willing to put up the grand fight of fixing what was so visibly broken.

\- - -

The next morning, Jensen rose after a deep, long night’s sleep, a smile firmly in place and a weight off his chest. It was the weekend, and while he was suddenly single, jobless, and without direction, he would enjoy his hours of freedom before he made himself sit down and plan his future.

Sunlight pierced the room, drawing him outside, and in minutes he was at the coffee shop. There was the familiar drum of excitement and curiosity, wondering if he would find Danneel inside, but also the stab of sadness with the memory of his last day in Cassidonia and those moments he spent with her. 

It was eerily quiet inside and he looked around the place, unable to ignore the empty feeling of not knowing a soul. He ordered a regular coffee with sugar and cream and relishing the hot liquid while trying to not be disappointed in the absence of all the sweet flavors he’d had before.

Stepping outside, he looked for an open café table, and as he moved towards one, he was knocked back with the rush of a dog swiping in front of him then winding around his legs.

The dog settled at his feet, panting and shaking with excitement, especially as Jensen curled a hand under its chin and stroked. “Hey, buddy,” he cooed with a broad grin that couldn’t stop itself from streaking across his face. Especially when the dog popped back up, paws on Jensen’s stomach.

“Down boy! Down!” someone shouted as another dog joined Jensen. “Jesus, I’m sorry, he got right off the leash,” the guy rambled on, grabbing the dog’s collar and pulling him away from Jensen. “I couldn’t get him fast enough.” He scrubbed hands over the dog’s head, squeezing its face. “I told you no running off. You know better, Harley.”

Jensen’s breath caught and his stopped as the dog whined and sat back on its hind legs and the other one licked at his fingers. “Jared,” he breathed out.

“Yeah,” the guy said, kneeling down to Harley but looking up with a small smile. His eyes stalled on Jensen’s face and then he softly smiled. “You look familiar. Do I know you?”

Jensen couldn’t breathe, couldn’t even move, except for when his fingers twitched against the other dog’s head and then he swept a caring hand over the ears, just like he’d seen Jared do so many times with Harley. Back then, in Cassidonia, where everything had changed him. 

Jared clipped a leash to Harley’s collar then stood with an awkward glance. “You okay?”

His fingers itched to touch, to grab, to feel; they hung in the air between them, grazing Jared’s shirt but stalling when he watched the movement. “You don’t remember?” Jensen asked with a crack in his voice.

“Sure don’t,” Jared drawled out with a slow shake of his head. He looked around them then pointed at a nearby table and granted Jensen a tiny smirk. “Should we sit? Maybe you could fill me in.”

Jensen’s eyes shone and he smiled wide, stroking Sadie’s head and playfully tugging on her ears. “Yeah, I can definitely do that.”

  
**EPILOGUE**

And so it was written: The Fair Child, mightier and braver than any man in all of Cassidonia, fulfilled his destiny, slaying the Vile Millicent and releasing all the Queen’s charges of their duty. Many stepped up for Queen Adrianne when she took rule of the Red Castle, and others returned to their families to live peaceful lives.

Cassidonia thrived under Queen Adrianne’s rule, and all in the Kingdom attended her wedding to King Jeffrey. Loyally at her side, as always, Danneel stepped in to provide the most attentive service as the Queen’s First Charge. 

While none of Cassidonia again saw Jensen or Jared, the two remained at the forefront of the Queen’s rule; their emblems, those on their suits on the night of the ball, were displayed on either side of the Red Castle’s entrance for all to honor their roles in the history of Cassidonia. 

As for our heroes, they sat for hours at that coffee shop while Jensen stumbled and blushed through as much of the story he could tell without being absolutely embarrassed with Jared staring in cautious wonder and smiling at all the right moments. And when they ran out of warm drink, he easily asked Jensen to dinner. 

Slowly and with ease, Jared courted Jensen, carving out a corner of Jensen’s heart just as he’d done in Cassidonia. When they would meet at ‘their’ coffee shop, Jensen always looked for Danneel, thinking that if he could find Jared in this world, maybe she would pop up, too. After many months, he’d given up on it, which was of course when he did finally spot her. Same long, flowing hair and same soft, caring smile, she nodded at him from across the patio. Jensen stalled with a hand over Sadie’s head while Harley milled around. 

“One foot in front of the other, let’s go,” Jared joked, stepping up behind him with a crate of coffees and sweets.

Jensen saw her pause at seeing Jared but then her eyes widened and she grinned as Jared nudged Jensen’s shoulder. He grabbed at Jared’s elbow, ready to tell him who he saw, but when they turned back to that spot, she was gone. Jensen smiled for the rest of the day.

It took many, many more encounters to fully detail his time in Cassidonia, to pay proper tribute to the journey, but Jared never tired of it.

Jared often slid close to Jensen in bed, arms tight and lips warm at his cheek. “Tell me again,” he would whisper.

Jensen always kissed back, sleepily murmuring, “You were the most honorable man in the land, promising yourself to protect me.”

Jared smirked and moved in even closer, covering Jensen with every bit of his body. “You mean I _am_ the most honorable man in all the land.”

And not for the first time, nor the last, Jensen’s eyes slipped shut and he smiled into Jared’s jaw. “Yes. Yes, you are.”


	2. Timestamp: Jensen Sees Much in Jared

It’s the little things that stick out to Jensen. Like when Jared first held the door open for him as they walked up to the restaurant. Or when the maitre d’ motioned for them to follow and Jared swept his arm out in a long gesture to let Jensen go first. Or when they were about to order and Jared softly smiled and said, “Be my guest.”

It shouldn’t bother him, because when he first saw Jared – this Jared – his heart thrilled with the instant relation and memory. But it now makes him think of Cassidonia and the Jared he knew there. The one he already had a connection with, one he spent the night with, and then watched –

He shakes his head and Jared’s eyes narrow at Jensen’s quick, disturbing movement. “Are you okay?” Jared asks carefully.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replies, righting his knife atop the crisp white napkin. Then he shifts his water glass up an inch or two, nerves obvious from the slight tremble of his fingers.

Jared lays his hand over Jensen’s and holds gently.

Jensen recognizes Jared’s comfort as well as the moment of silence as it feels like they’re both waiting for Jensen to explain it. He bites the inside of his mouth before looking up and, for once, the similarities help, because Jared’s face is smooth and the eyes caring as he watches Jensen. It feels like he’s looking at that Jared, and he remembers the confidence and support and affection between them.

It warms him from the inside, tickling at his skin, especially where Jared’s fingers wrap around his, still gentle but there. He can accept and appreciate the likeness here. But still, Jensen wants more than that.

He squeezes at Jared’s hand then reaches for his water glass, this time taking it to his mouth and drinking. After he places it back to the table, he puts on a smile, small but true, and says, “So, tell me more about your sister.”


	3. Timestamp: In This World Here, He Fears

As the sun rises higher in the East, Jensen stares southward, hand coming up to shield the rays that still cut into his eyes. The dogs are loping long runs through the park, Harley after Sadie, a bright red ball tucked into her mouth. 

The ball drops and both chase it, Harley batting it away from Sadie, and then she all but head- butts Harley until he loses footing and scrambles to the side. She cuts right in and snatches the ball up before charging right to Jensen. 

“Atta, girl!” Jensen grins, stroking over her silken mane, pouncing her flank as he knows she can take it.

Jared’s doing a poor job of hiding his pout. He scruffs up Harley’s face, scrubs under his chin, and takes the licking of a lifetime. 

Jensen smiles at the picture Jared makes as the World’s Greatest Dog Owner, crouching down to Harley’s level and taking all of his anxious energy as he continually jumps at Jared’s lap and then steps back. Jensen remains standing but leaning over Sadie as he keeps stroking over her back, fingers catching on the bump of each vertebrae. 

“Your girl’s fierce,” he says with a smile aimed right at Jared.

“Yeah, but she sure is loyal.”

There’s a warmth there that Jensen can sense from Jared, but a chill runs down his spine as he thinks of an entirely different kind of animal of the same name, bearing great loyalty to him once upon a time.

 

*

During Jared’s 48-hour shift at the hospital, Jensen visits. He brings lunch, shares Jared’s downtime in a residents’ break room. 

“Tell me something good,” Jensen requests as they settle cross legged on a cot and trade off halves of their subs. 

Jared’s already bitten into his portion of Jensen’s roast beef and he chews while nodding. It’s another few moments as he washes his mouth with a long gulp of water. He finally says: “Little girl came in, crying her eyes out with a dislocated shoulder. She fell off the monkey bars during recess.”

Jensen frowns and speaks quietly. “I said something _good_ , Jared.”

He smiles. “I’m getting there.”

“Well … get faster. This is horrible.”

The corner of Jared’s mouth tips up and then he licks his lips as he takes more time before continuing. “Her dad brings her in, and he’s all full of tears, just water pouring from his eyes. On par with the girl’s. Who’s about nine.” Jensen gives him a sad look and Jared smirks. “But these perfect, medically trained weapons,” he says while showing off both hands, fingers wiggling in the air, “got to action, and, through reduction, I put that girl right outta her misery. She stopped crying instantly, though the dad took a little longer to calm down.”

“Instantly?” Jensen asks skeptically, fingers wiping nervously across a napkin in his lap. 

Jared smiles and nods, warmth and pride evident in his look. “I’m just that good.”

“And then what?” 

“And then I gave her a Tootsie Roll pop and became her favorite person.”

Jensen chuckles softly. “Just like that?”

Jared raises an eyebrow, mouth opening to answer, when the door swings open and a tall woman comes through the door looking thoroughly startled. “Jared! I’m sorry to interrupt! I didn’t know you were in here.”

“No, it’s okay,” Jared says as he shifts to face her and smiles easily. “We’re just taking a break.”

From there, they jump into a conversation about their day, or days really, as they recount how long they’ve each been on the clock. Through it all, Jensen stares, because the resident, with flowing blond curls tucked into a clip at the base of her neck, is scarily familiar as the graceful princess he once served. 

At a pause in the conversation, Jared shifts back to Jensen and motions between them. “Jensen, this is Annie-”

“So you’re the knight in shining armor?” Annie asks with a wide, bright smile as she leans against the doorframe. 

Jensen’s still staring at her, unable to comprehend the way his nerves tingle with the recognizable way she smiles not to mention her words. “I, am I what?” Jensen stutters out. 

“Weren’t you the one who helped Jared move his new TV in? He hasn’t stopped talking about that for days.”

“It’s a really nice TV,” Jared laughs. 

But then he begins to frown as he watches Jensen do absolutely nothing but stare at the other resident. Just a few moments later, the whole room catches onto the tension and Annie straightens in the doorway before she gives a quick goodbye and leaves them be. 

“What’s up?” Jared asks quietly. 

Jensen swallows and looks right at Jared, but struggles to explain the matter. He takes a deep breath and bites into his sandwich, mumbling, “Nothing,” before prompting Jared to talk about other patients he’s seen today. 

*

At Jared’s nephew’s birthday party, Jensen mills around with Jared’s sister and her boyfriend. He spends time chatting with the father and a handful of uncles. He even manages to lend a few hands in the kitchen as the mother, aunts, grandmother, extended family, all attempt to transfer lunch to patio tables outside.

“Stealing the show, huh?” Jared whispers from behind. 

Jensen turns from the last of the folding banquet tables, taking in Jared’s playful smile and pink cheeks. “What kind of trouble have you been getting up to?” he asks while pinching the middle of Jared’s tee.

“None at all,” Jared replies, turning as they both walk across the yard. He tucks his hands together at his back as he strolls. “Couldn’t manage to start anything without my partner in crime.”

It’s a long moment of Jensen watching the stretch of Jared’s legs as they take elongated strides, the angles of his shoulders as they tuck in and shift with every step. It all reminds him of a quiet walk down narrow, dark hallways before entering bed chambers and retiring for the evening.

There are flashes of candlelight-streaked walls, hills roaming an entire countryside, the tallest of all brick walls encasing a sprawling fortress. 

He stops in place, swiveling and glancing across the yard in every direction, anchoring himself to the moment.

Jared’s parents’ house. Jared’s nephew’s birthday.

“Not Cassidonia,” he mumbles to himself. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Jared asks softly with an even softer hand at Jensen’s elbow. The hand lightly tugs to grab Jensen’s attention, but he’s sure his face is still lost given how worried Jared suddenly appears. “What is it?”

Jensen searches Jared’s eyes for some sense of comfort that he is here, in the present, and far from any repeat of all he experienced in that far away place. 

Jared’s hand sweeps over the curve of Jensen’s shoulder, thumb pressing into the dip of his collarbone. 

It should comfort him, he knows this. Yet, it does the opposite, for he remembers a touch just like it from _that_ Jared. 

There are more attempts at comfort when Jared’s other hand rises to the same position, makes the same touch. Then large dogs – larger than Sadie and Harley even – scuffle in the far corner, fighting over a pig ear, and Jensen hears every grunt and whine amplified in his ears, replaying a great battle that he didn’t quite win or lose.

With that memory, Jensen’s lungs ache and his throat pulses, keeping him from breathing. Each attempt at proper air amps his nerves right up and he’s panicking. He can feel the pressure rise in his stomach, the tingling in his muscles. 

Jared’s palms land on Jensen’s cheeks, fingers soft over his ears, sweeping a gentle pattern that has worked more times than Jensen cares to think about. Each time Jensen blames anxiety and each time Jared’s words are strong even when his voice is lined with comfort. 

“Jensen, relax. It’s okay. We’re in Lawndale. We’re at a five-year-old’s birthday party. They’re gonna play pin the tail on the donkey in five minutes. There’s nothing wrong.”

“But I hear,” he whimpers as he searches the yard for signs that he’s not imagining the howling that pounds his senses. He can hear those shadowhogs, can smell the musty stank of their leathered skin. 

Pulling Jensen in, Jared brings their chests together. He takes long, calculated breaths to press Jensen’s chest into a steady rhythm. Strong hands keep Jensen close as Jared’s eyes are intent on Jensen’s. “Just breathe, Jensen. Just one breath after another. Breathe with me.”

Jensen refuses to move his eyes from Jared’s and logs every earthy shade that swirls together. His chest shifts with Jared’s, easing him into a regular breathing pattern, bringing him back down to common sense. Outside of family and friends laughing and eating, he can hear Jared’s deep breaths as they come and go. 

It’s settling him, and he would smile for it except that he keeps his mouth rounded to let air pass through easily.

“Is everything okay?” one of Jared’s aunts asks.

From the corner of his eye, Jensen can see a handful of relatives nearing them, and a few more who start whispering together while they stay their distance.

Jared keeps their chests together but he turns to the growing crowd to answer. “Just an asthma attack. Summer pollen’s a killer.”

“Oh, honey,” another aunt murmurs, getting closer. “Don’t you have an inhaler?” 

“Good thing Jared’s a doctor, huh?” the first one remarks.

“What kind of doctor is he if his boyfriend doesn’t even have an inhaler.”

The conversation is enough to distract Jensen and he slips out of Jared’s hold, marching up to the house and trying like hell to disappear to the second floor of the home. 

It doesn’t take long at all for Jared to find him in the bathroom, and Jared slowly enters as his eyes rake over Jensen from head to toe and back up again. “What’s wrong?”

Jensen continues to lean over the sink, tempted to turn the faucet on again and let cool water run across his wrists to handle the hot flashes he can’t ignore. Still, he insists, “I’m okay.”

Jared lays a hand at Jensen’s back. “You don’t look okay. What’s wrong?”

He stands and stares at himself in the mirror before his eyes find Jared’s in the reflection. “You wouldn’t believe me.”

“Try me,” Jared prompts softly with a nod. 

Jensen wipes a hand down his face, resting it over his neck and scratching short lines just under his jaw. Jared pulls Jensen’s hand away and wraps one of his hands around Jensen’s wrist and the other into Jensen’s palm. It’s comforting and Jensen warms with it, but he can feel his heart still thumping hard within his chest in knowing he’s about to tell Jared about what he’s been responding to lately. 

There’s a subtle shift to Jared’s fingers, just a gentle touch over his wrist, but Jensen realizes that Jared’s fingers are now pressing into his pulse point. 

His eyes can’t move from the sight of Jared’s two fingers in place, and he focuses on steadying his breathing, steadying his heart. When the pressure on his chest lessens, he picks his head up to meet Jared’s gaze. 

“It’s Cassidonia.”

Jared stares in return, eyes searching Jensen’s, until he just barely rolls his shoulders and bites his lips together. “Cassidonia,” Jared repeats in a surprisingly level tone.

Jensen nods and breathes slowly. “Yeah.”

“That thing with the … the other me and that monster …”

He nods again but can’t manage to speak until he truly understands Jared’s response to the matter.

Jared clears his throat and finally lets his feelings known. “I didn’t know that was real to you.”

Jensen’s breath catches, his nerves singe, and he feels as though he’s seconds away from a repeat of what had happened outside. “I’ve told you about it,” he mumbles. 

The fingers on Jensen’s pulse press harder as Jared takes ten seconds of silence, then he strokes his fingers over the flat of Jensen’s arm. “I know you did. I just thought –”

“That I was lying?”

“No,” Jared replies immediately, voice easy.

“That I was crazy?” Jensen asks quickly. 

“No, not that.”

“Then what? I told you about it. I went through these things, and I knew you there and then–”

“And then you slayed the dragon,” Jared says softly with a gentle smile. 

Jensen steps back, puts space between them. “You think I’m crazy.”

Jared brings his hands up between them in a pleading gesture. “No. I just said that I don’t.”

“Then what? That it was just a joke or something?”

“Maybe, that it was just a dream.”

Despite Jared’s tender voice, Jensen’s stomach burns in worry. Worse than outside, the air becomes hot around him, and he feels as though the walls are closing in, fever spiking and a sweat breaking at the thought that Jared doesn’t believe him. That he never has. 

An innocent, “Jared? You up here?” floats through the half-closed door before it’s pushed open by his sister. “Cake in two minutes or Jeff’ll eat it all and–” Her eyes flit between Jared and Jensen before her face drops. “Is everything okay?”

Jared’s hand curls over Jensen’s shoulder all while he smiles and nods at his sister. “Yeah, we’ll be right there.”

The second she’s gone, Jensen straightens up and steels himself to something more composed. He swallows and tries on a smile, but there’s no denying that Jared can read it as fake. “Let’s get some cake.”

“Jensen,” he murmurs. 

There’s the obvious lingering tension but Jensen refuses to acknowledge it, instead burying it deep down as he’s done for the last year. Since coming back from Cassidonia, since telling Jared of the great resemblance. 

“I know you’re dying for that frosting,” Jensen says with a quirked smile. “I saw you eying it when we got here.”

He’s already moving past Jared, and Jared follows in step. Though, he sighs and all but pleads, “We’re talking about this later, yeah?”

Except when later comes, when Jared pulls up to Jensen’s apartment building, Jensen quietly says goodnight before dropping a kiss on his cheek, and flees the vehicle in a relatively calm manner.

*

Jensen finds excuses to keep distance from Jared for the next few days, to not answer his calls, and ignore the few text messages Jared sends at various hours as he covers another overnighter.

In the last half of a thirty-six-hour shift, Jensen makes the effort to erase his absence and shows up with Jared’s favorite steak sandwich with a large order of parmesan chips, items that have won Jared over in seconds as needed in the past. 

He spots Jared hanging over a counter, making notes in a thick file. He places the paper bag of food just next to Jared’s elbow, which draws Jared’s attention and a strange, twisted smile. “Do I know you?” he jokes lightly. 

“Olive branch, and all that,” Jensen says, gesturing at the food. 

Jared slowly peers into the bag, eyebrows lifting as he logs the food within. “Not too shabby,” he says with a nod. It seems as though he’s ready to say more, to address Jensen and his complete silence of the last few days, but his pager sounds off and he curses as he twists to read it at his hip. 

“It’s fine,” Jensen insists before Jared even looks at him. “I didn’t intend to stay long.”

“No, don’t go yet,” Jared insists warmly with a hand coasting over Jensen’s arm. “I gotta check in on Annie with a patient, but I’ll be back in a bit.”

Jensen freezes at the name, at the reminder of when he met her and couldn’t do more than stare in with the recollection. 

Jared slowly releases Jensen’s arm and eyes him closely. “Or you don’t want to wait? You’re just dropping and dashing?”

He clears his throat and shakes his head, doing more to convince himself than Jared. “No, I’m not. I can wait for you.”

Suddenly, from just beyond Jared, Annie’s head pops out of a room and she calls for him, sounding panicked and needy.

Jensen’s eyes go round and he swallows hard, and rather loudly if Jared’s quick reaction is anything to go by. 

“What’s wrong?” Jared asks, now sounding as worried as Annie does.

“Jared!” she yells. 

“Don’t go anywhere!” Jared insists as he rushes to follow her through the doorway and out of sight.

Jensen mills around the Nurses’ Desk, the women behind it smiling sweetly at him and trying to make small talk as he waits. The conversations are short but they’re enough to relax him, to distract him from all of what’s been strange between him and Jared for the last few weeks, of all that Jensen keeps reliving of the faraway land he’ll never forget but has tried in earnest to overlook.

Yet, it’s brought to the forefront of his mind when Jared returns nearly an hour later from what a nurse had told Jensen was a complicated patient. Jared moves to the far side of the counter to drop off a chart and hand some orders to the nurse, but Jensen can’t stop staring at him, for all he can see are splashes of red across Jared’s blue scrubs top.

A race up and over rocks flashes before Jensen’s eyes. He sees an armored Jared riding his steed and charging a great beast. He feels the way his heart races as he recalls that beast swinging at Jared, the wet warmth of blood rising up through Jared’s shredding breastplate, the charge of adrenaline when he launched himself onto the beast to stab with his heavy sword.

Jared turns from the desk and Jensen rushes to him. Once he’s within reach, Jensen grabs at the scrubs. His fingers twist across the fabric as he seeks out possible wounds, but Jared’s shouting at him to stop, pulling his hands away, and leading him into a nearby employee washroom. 

After peeling away his scrub shirt to reveal a thin t-shirt and tossing it into a nearby hazmat bin, Jared’s lecturing Jensen all about the hazards of bloodborne pathogens as Jared scrubs their hands together, brush and steaming hot water burning Jensen’s fingers.

“I don’t even know what’s going on with you. You’ve been acting crazy for weeks now. Jesus Christ, Jensen. What’m I supposed to think or do when you go all apeshit on me and then tell me these crazy stories?”

“They’re not crazy stories,” Jensen argues as he tries to tug out of Jared’s hold.

But Jared grips tighter as he rubs their hands together for more lather and washing. “You’ve gotta stop it! You have _got_ to let it go and move on or something. This isn’t real!”

Jensen gives in to the speech, allows Jared go on and on until he’s lost for words, and Jensen drops his head and works on steadying his breathing through the anxiety still racking his brain. 

As it’s quiet and the air is thick with tension, Jensen mumbles one last detail to Cassidonia that he’d never before told Jared. “I saw you die.”

Jared stops moving, hands cradling Jensen’s under the hot water. 

Jensen barely turns his head, glancing at Jared from the corner of his eye before he takes another long breath. He whispers, “You were bleeding all through your armor, and you died in my arms.”

Jared leans forward to shut the water off and stays close, hands still cupping Jensen’s. “Me-me, or the other me?”

“The other one.”

“In that other world,” Jared says more than asks, though his voice is tight with skepticism.

“In Cassidonia,” Jensen affirms. With a rough swallow, Jensen pulls his hands away and curls them over the edge of the sink, holding with his fingernails tight to the porcelain. “I watched you die. You can’t ask me to forget that.”

Jared falls away, leaning against the bathroom stall and going silent.

Jensen looks to Jared and reads the sorrow in his eyes. Hopeful to get through the conversation, Jensen asks, “What happened with your patient? To make your shirt all …” and he motions at Jared’s undershirt, stained with light pink streaks. 

He glances down to his shirt and presses his palm into a blank patch of the fabric. His throat works forcibly before he explains, “She was hemorrhaging after a routine appendectomy. Her blood’s too thin and wouldn’t clot.”

“How old?”

“Fourteen,” Jared mumbles while scratching fingers through his hair. 

“She gonna be okay?” he asks quietly.

“Yeah, she will be,” Jared responds quickly as he shifts his feet and gives a wary look. “You wanna keep talking about my patients or deal with the real problem here?”

Jensen puts a hand into the air between them, feeling as though he’s unable to win in this moment. Jared’s told him to forget it all and yet he’s bringing it right back up.

“You really saw me die?” Jared asks. 

His eyes burn instantly as the memory replays in perfect Technicolor. He can catch the sun on every blade of grass in that field, the shading of the rocks piled high as he raced up them to meet Jared, the rich coppery color to Jared’s blood. Then his other senses catch up: Jared’s harsh breathing growing shallow, the sharp scent to his wounds, the howls of Sadie and Harley taunting the monster. 

He doesn’t realize he’s crying until Jared’s thumb chases a tear down his cheek, and then another. Quiet, warm shushing is right in Jensen’s ear as Jared pulls him close, arms around his back, hands holding his head to Jared’s shoulder. 

Then, Jensen becomes a blubbery mess, sniffling and crying and clutching to the back of Jared’s shirt. He relives the pain he felt when Jared died, when he raced back to the White Palace, when Princess Adrianne told him there was no hope for saving the man he’d fallen in love with. 

There’s a bit of peace to know that he’s reliving it all with Jared right there, even when it’s this new version he’s gotten to know and love in their own way, without being forced together in a world he couldn’t traverse on his own. 

Jared’s beeper interrupts them once again. He looks at it for a moment before putting all focus on Jensen. He carefully holds Jensen’s face up to assess him and then he runs his thumbs under Jensen’s eyes, wiping away the final tears and providing great comfort. His voice is strong in its direction even while he watches Jensen with great care. “I have a few more hours left of my shift. I’ll come by your place after and we’ll talk this out.”

As he’s done so many times before, he stuffs all of his emotions just below the surface to appear as calm and collected as possible, even as it betrays the time they’ve spent in this room. “You’ll be exhausted and should probably sleep for three days. Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m incredibly worried about it,” Jared says with a slight shake of his head. “And you. Stop telling me to not be.”

“You told me to forget about it,” Jensen reminds him.

“That was before you said … everything.”

Jensen’s eyes draw down and he nods in agreement, letting Jared give him soft assurances, enough to convince him to leave and wait for Jared at home. 

*

Jensen’s woken to Jared’s entry with an extra key Jensen had given him just a few weeks ago. He realizes now that this coming moment is more pivotal than that one had been.

As Jensen shifts up to the headboard, Jared enters the bedroom, dropping his overnight work bag by the dresser, and then he joins Jensen against the headboard. They’re facing each other and remain quiet for a few moments before Jared rests his hand on Jensen’s knee and asks, “Can you tell me about it? From the beginning?”

Jensen does, and as the night wears on and his tale grows longer, they both slip lower in bed, tucking pillows between heads and arms, sliding closer when Jensen gets further into the story. His voice drops low as he details falling for Jared, of them spending the night together, of them going forward with their mission to fight the beast. 

He tenses through the words, but Jared rings his arm over Jensen’s hip, and fingers skates across his back to soothe him. It works enough that Jensen rushes over exact descriptions and works his way to the end. To the point where Jensen learns of Jared’s journey having been done with great purpose. 

By the end, Jared’s brow is furrowed and his lips pursed. 

“How could you not tell me?” he asks quietly. “You’ve never told me half of that.”

Jensen wants to shrug, to make up a thorough excuse. Instead, he plainly replies, “Would you have believed me?”

“I’m gonna try,” he answers quite honestly.

“Yeah?”

Jared slides close, arms tightening around Jensen and lips warm at his cheek. “Yeah, I promise. I will try.”

Jensen slips his hands to Jared’s back to pull him even closer even as he dips his head down. “Thank you,” he whispers into Jared’s neck. 

Kissing Jensen’s forehead, Jared strokes a palm up and down Jensen’s spine. “Tell me again.”


	4. Timestamp: He Knows He's Dreaming

Jared charged towards Harley, timing each step with the steed’s as they neared each other. He reached for a tuft of hair and hauled himself up, sword clutched tight in his fist, tossing himself up and over to sit atop Harley. He tugged at the boy’s mane, shouting directions to head right back to Jensen.

His heart threatened to tear right out of his chest with the panic of Jensen in danger, of the giant milling over him and reaching for him. He shucked his feet back on Harley to speed them up but Harley didn’t move an inch. His legs spun round but he could only gallop in place, keeping them far from Jensen no matter what Jared shouted or how hard he pulled on Harley’s hair.

As Mildred reached for Jensen, Jared shouted for him, and continued to until his yell ran itself out, leaving his throat dry and raspy as he fought to continue screaming for Jensen.

Hey, come on!

Jared jerked up to darkness draping him and making his panic rise. Feeling hands on him did nothing to calm him, and he flinched away until Jensen’s voice broke through.

“Jared, it’s okay, c’mere,” Jensen rushed out, grabbing hold of Jared and pulling him in.

Heart still running wildly, mind reeling even as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of what he suddenly realized as their bedroom, Jared slowly moved to Jensen. He slid down in the bed and used Jensen’s shoulder as a pillow as Jensen drew the comforter over them.

Jared couldn’t shut his eyes, no matter how soothing Jensen’s hands across his back were or how steady Jensen’s breathing was. He stared clear across the room as Jensen stroked over his back and pushed damp hair away from his face.

“Been having a lot of bad dreams lately,” Jensen murmured at his forehead. “You okay?”

He somehow managed a _yeah, I’m fine_ and was able to keep Jensen away from questioning too much.

It all happened the next three, and Jensen prodded a bit more each time.

Night four, after Jared witnessed the horror of Mildred turning from Jensen and grabbing hold of Jared, rattling him as Jared could hear every rib crack, Jensen sighed and squeezed his arms around Jared’s shoulders. “Another bad dream?”

“Not a dream,” Jared admitted quietly. Even as he knew what he was seeing, he couldn’t bear to say the words, especially after taking so long to acknowledge Jensen’s story.

“What is it?” Jensen asked, pulling back to look Jared in the eyes.

“I keep seeing it.” Jensen lightly shook his head in confusion and Jared swallowed hard. “Cassidonia.”

Jensen searched Jared’s eyes and he held Jared’s cheek, giving a small squeeze. “You sure?”

“It looks so real,” Jared mumbled, eyes tight to Jensen’s. “It’s all real, isn’t it?”

“I’m pretty sure,” Jensen whispered back.

Jared slid down in the bed, pulling Jensen right with him, and tucked his head under Jensen’s chin. He couldn’t care for how small he felt; he needed Jensen right with him.

“Tell me the good parts,” Jared asked, closing his eyes and waiting for Jensen’s low voice. “Tell me how we met.”

Jensen stroked his hand over Jared’s hand, threading fingers through his hair. “You were a noble man,” he started.


	5. Timestamp: Brightly Shining

As they step between another batch of pine trees, Jensen takes a deep breath and keeps looking at the tip-top of each tree, thankful he can see the blue sky beyond all these branches. The trees are tucked tightly together and he’s almost feeling claustrophobic in the faux maze.

From a bit away, he hears Jared ask oddly, “How about a _balsam_ fir?” Jensen nears Jared just as he’s looking up from the sign pitched into the ground to take in the entirety of the tree in front of him then glances around. “These things have weird names. Douglas fir, grand fir, noble fir.”

Jensen gives Jared an strange look, but Jared only smirks in reply.

“You know the white fir isn’t even white? It’s still green.”

“I think it’s blue-green, actually,” he replies as he turns to keep walking through the lot of Christmas trees.

It’d been Jared’s idea to pick one out together for their first Christmas living together, even if they each had fake trees from past years. Jared had insisted it was a whole new world for Jensen, and them together, so why not embrace it?

Jensen stops near a grouping of spruces and takes a deep breath. The earthiness of the trees around him remind him of a forest he once saw … _back there_. His heart feels heavy in his chest, as if it’s about to take off and pound erratically or his lungs to shrink up with the inability to breathe.

He’s been waiting for any reaction to most anything lately, ever since he and Jared both came to an understanding of what all had happened in Cassidonia and that they were both so closely tied to the place.

Carefully, Jensen reaches out to grab hold of a few spruce needles, softly rubbing his fingers over them. He’s waiting for his body to respond to the touch, to hear the sudden howls of the steeds, racing footfalls, shouting and fighting, anything to ring through his ears.

He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes for a moment, and when he opens them, Jared’s standing beside him with a gentle smile and rosy cheeks. When Jared adjusts the edge of his ear warmers, strands of hair go astray, but they fit with the happy-go-lucky way he looks at Jensen. “You find one you like?”

Jensen searched Jared’s eyes and the only trace of wrongness he finds is when Jared’s face starts to turn into something more akin confusion as he watches back.

“You okay?” Jared asks quietly, wrapping a hand around Jensen’s elbow.

Shaking his head, Jensen tries to smile and joke, but he’s sure it all comes out flat. “Don’t know why we have to get a new tree anyway. We’ve got two perfectly good ones at home.”

Jared’s lips draw up in a strange smile he’s been showing lately, but Jensen’s uncertain he wants to know the real reason for it, so he steps forward to keep looking. Maybe the scent of fresh trees is getting to Jared, or maybe he’s hungry and stifling his grumbling stomach, or maybe - as Jensen’s now realizing - it’s because Jensen said _home_.

Jared follows, wraps his arms around Jensen’s shoulders, and lightly shakes him. “It’s the spontaneity,” he insists with a light, playful tone. “To get out one Saturday afternoon and see something and just say ‘there, that’s it, that’s the one I want, and I’m not leaving without it’.”

Jensen slowly turns in Jared’s arms and has a feeling he has Jared’s same strange smile on his own lips. He’s suddenly unable to identify any traces from the noble Jared he once knew and this one here. It’s utterly foreign, given how many times Jensen has had to fight down phantom touches and sounds, but it’s in a good way, certainly, because Jensen now remembers the Saturday morning after he’d returned to his life and had spotted Jared - _this_ Jared - at the coffee shop, and thought ‘that’s him, I can’t live without his smile.’

“You sure you’re okay?” Jared asks slowly.

Jensen looks away, eyes going up to the clear blue sky before coming back down to meet Jared’s. The world around them is theirs, not some foreign land with fewer hours of daylight than danger, and Jensen feels his cheeks ache when he realizes he’s been grinning at Jared long enough to make them both seem a little crazy for not moving.

He nods a little and clears his throat. Murmurs, “Yeah, I’m really good.”


End file.
